Letters 87-117

In the West, letters from the blessed. Jerome of Stridon was no less popular than his translations of the Bible. 117 letters were translated into Russian. 117 letters from the blzh were translated into Russian. Hieronymus of Stridon. Many of them are treatises of considerable volume, devoted to various exegetical, dogmatic or moral-ascetic issues. This publication presents letters 87-117, composed in 401-420. The letters discuss selected passages from the New and Old Testaments. For example: - the promised land (letter 105); - difference in the evangelists’ story about the Resurrection of Christ (letter 96); - the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (letter 96), etc. Blzh. Jerome raises such moral and ascetic issues as repentance (letter 98), monogamy (letter 99), maintaining virginity (letter 106), etc. Letter 87 (to Lethe) is an example of wise advice on raising children in the spirit of true Christian piety. A number of letters represent epitaphs to various persons (letters 88, 103). Letters devoted to dogmatic and polemical issues include: letter 100 (on the origin of the soul), letter 106 (on the difference in degrees of the priesthood), letter 89 (against Vigilantius), etc. Contents 87. Letter to Lethe 88. Letter to Eustochius 89. Letter to Rinarius the presbyter 90. Letter to Augustine 91. Letter to Theophilus 92. Letter to Augustine 93. Letter to a mother and daughter living in Galia 94. Letter to Julian 95. Letter to Minernius and Alexander the monks 96. Letter to Gebidia 97. Letter to Algasia 98. Letter to Rusticus 99. Letter to Ageruchia 100. Letter to Avitus 101. Letter to Rusticus the monk 102. Letter to Marcellinus and Anapsychia 103. Letter to the maiden Principio, or funeral homily for the widow Marcellus 104. Letter to Gaudentius 105. Letter to Dardanus 106. Letter to Demetrias 107. Letter to Ctesiphon 108. Letter to Augustine 109. Letter to Riparius 110. Letter to Apronius 111. Letter to Prester Cyprian 112. Letter to Augustine 113. Letter to Augustine 114. Letter to Alypius and Augustine 115. Letter to Exuperantius 116. Letter to the Evangel 117. Letter to Sabinian The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians, instructing the young Church in sacred rules, among other commandments, gave the following: a wife who has an unbelieving husband, and he agrees to live with her, should not leave him. For an unbelieving husband is sanctified by a believing wife, and an unbelieving wife is sanctified by a believing husband. Otherwise your children would have been unclean, but now they are holy (1 Cor. 7:13–14). If, perhaps, it has hitherto seemed to anyone that the bonds of discipline here are extremely weakened and that the teacher is immoderately lenient, then let him look at the house of your father, although a most famous and learned husband, but still walking in darkness (paganism), and he will see that the advice of the apostle is aimed at ensuring that the bitterness of the root is rewarded with the sweetness of the fruit and the ignoble vines provide a precious balm. You were born from an unequal marriage; from you and from my Toxocia was born Pavla. Who would believe that Pontifex Albinus, as a result of his mother’s vow, would give birth to a granddaughter who, in the presence of her joyful grandfather, would still sing Christ’s Alleluia in the babbling tongue of a baby? Who would believe that an old man would raise a virgin of God in his depths? But our hopes were true and happy. A holy and faithful house sanctifies an unfaithful husband. He is already a hostage of faith, surrounded by a faithful crowd of sons and grandsons. I think even if he were still a youth and had such a relationship, he could have believed in Christ. Let him spit on and ridicule my letter, let him shout that I am both stupid and crazy; His son-in-law did the same until he believed. Christians are made, not born. The gilded Capitol is dirty. All the churches in Rome were smoked with soot and covered with cobwebs. Rome has moved from its foundations, and the people who had previously flooded the dilapidated churches are rushing to the tombs of the martyrs. If prudence does not force you to believe, at least conscientiousness will. I told you this, Leta, the most pious daughter in Christ, so that you would not despair of your father’s salvation; with the same faith with which you acquired your daughter, with the same faith you will gain your father and enjoy the bliss of the whole family; remember the well-known promise of the Lord: What is impossible with men is possible with God (Luke 18:27). It can never be too late to appeal. The thief entered heaven from the cross. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, who turned into a beast in body and soul and lived with the beasts in the desert, again acquired human meaning. But I will leave the ancient examples so that they do not seem too fabulous to non-believers. Several years before this, your relative, Gracchus, who by his very name speaks of nobility and patricianism, being a Roman prefect, did not destroy, ravage and scatter the cave of Mithras with all the monstrous images dedicated to Carax, Nymph, Hercules, Leo, Perseus, Helios, Dromos, Patrus and, thereby providing, as it were, some preliminary guarantee, not did you ask for the baptism of Christ? For paganism, Rome also becomes a desert. The gods, once the gods of the peoples, remain with only eagle owls and owls on the roofs. The sign of the cross became a sign of war. The scarlet robes and diadems of the kings, burning with precious stones, are decorated with the image of a saving instrument of execution. Already the Egyptian Serapis became a Christian. Merna, locked in Gaza, cries and in horror awaits the destruction of the church any day. Every day crowds of monks from India, Persia, and Ethiopia come to us. The Armenian put down his quiver. The Huns study the Psalter, the Scythian frosts burn with the fire of faith; The red and blond army of the Getae carry with them everywhere tents that serve as churches, and perhaps that is why they fight against us with equal skill to ours, because they equally profess the same religion. But I dodged to the side, and just as I was imagining making a jug on a spinning wheel, my hand made a bucket. Yielding to the requests of Saint Markella and yours, I intended to turn my speech to my mother, that is, to you, and teach how you should educate our Paul, who was dedicated to Christ before she was born, whom you doomed before you conceived in the womb. And before our eyes, something is happening that is described in the books of the prophets: Anna changed the barrenness of the womb into fertility (1 Samuel 1) - you changed unhappy fertility into happy, you received living children. I say with complete confidence that you will receive sons because you gave the first fruit of your womb to the Lord. This is the firstborn who was sacrificed according to the law (Ex. 13). Thus was Samuel conceived; Thus Samson was born (Judges 13); So John the Baptist stood up and jumped up at Mary’s entrance: because he heard the words of the Lord thundering through the lips of the Virgin, and jumped up to break out of his mother’s womb to meet Him. So, those born as a result of a vow must receive from their parents an education worthy of their origin. Samuel is raised in the church; John gets ready in the desert. He is honored with sacred hair, does not drink wine or strong drink; while still a baby, she talks with God. This one flees the cities, girdles himself with a leather belt, eats locusts and wild honey, and to personify the repentance that he was supposed to preach, dresses in the skins of the most humpbacked animal 1 . The soul that is destined to be the church of God must be educated in the following way. Let her learn to listen and say only what relates to the fear of God. Let her not understand shameful words, let her not know worldly songs; Let her still infant tongue learn sweet psalms. The society of frisky boys should be removed from her; The girls and maids themselves must refrain from worldly conversations with her, so that what they themselves have poorly understood is not taught even worse. For it, alphabetic letters should be made from beech wood or ivory and each named with its own name. Let her amuse herself with them, so that the very amusement becomes a teaching for her. And not only must she remember the order of the letters and turn their names into songs for herself, but the alphabet must often be thrown into disarray, mixing the last letters with the middle ones and the middle ones with the first ones, so that she recognizes them not only by sound, but also by sight. And when she begins to move the pen over the paper with a trembling hand, it is necessary either for someone to guide it with gentle fingers, or to cut out the letters on the board so that the line drawn along the grooves stretches in the outskirts and cannot go beyond them. Let her connect syllables in order to get a reward, and let gifts that serve as fun for this age be a motivator for her. Let her study with friends whom she could envy, whose praise could incite her. If she is less understanding than them, she should not be scolded; but you need to stimulate her abilities with praise, so that she rejoices when she defeats them, and regrets when they surpass her. Most of all, she must be careful that she does not hate learning, so that the aversion to it, pre-engaged in childhood, does not carry over into her youth. The names themselves, over which she will gradually learn to form words, should not be some kind of random, but well-known and deliberately chosen, such as: the names of the prophets and apostles and the entire series of names of the patriarchs starting from Adam, as he is given by Matthew and Luke; this is so that, while doing one thing, she prepares her memory for another, the future. The teacher should choose a person of mature years, good life and good knowledge; I do not think that a learned man would be ashamed to take upon himself in relation to a relative or a noble maiden the exact same duties that Aristotle took upon himself in relation to the son of Philip, in order to teach the alphabet himself for the same cheap price that scribes receive. One should not despise as unimportant that without which great things are impossible. The very pronunciation of letters and the first rudiments of learning are taught differently by the learned and differently by the ignorant. Therefore, take care that your daughter does not learn the absurd custom of women of distorting words out of affection, and that she does not get used to amusing herself with gold and purple; the former harms the language, the latter harms morals; Let him not learn in childhood what he will have to unlearn later. They write that the eloquence of the Gracchi was greatly benefited by the speech of their mother, which they listened to since childhood. Hortensius's speech was instilled in him even in his father's arms. It is difficult to destroy what impresses itself on young souls. Who will restore the former whiteness of wool dyed purple? A new jug retains the taste and smell of what it was first filled with for a long time. Greek history tells that Alexander, being the most powerful king and conqueror of the universe, for a long time was unable to free himself from the shortcomings in the character and gait of his teacher Leonidas, which he contracted in childhood. It is very easy to compete with the bad, and if you are unable to imitate the virtues of others, you will soon learn their vices. The mother herself should not be a drunkard, not fidgety, not a chatterbox; She should have a modest nanny and a sedate teacher. When he sees his grandfather, let him throw himself on his chest, hang on his neck, and even if he doesn’t want to, let him repeat alleluia. Grandma will carry her away by force; she will greet her father with smiles; everyone will love her; and your whole family will be comforted by the rose born from him. But at the same time, let her find out what other grandmother and what kind of aunt she has; so that she understands for which emperor, for which army her little warrior is being raised. She must strive for them, and her departure to them will threaten you. Her very appearance and clothing should prepare her for what she is destined for. Do not pierce, I warn you, her ears; Do not paint the face dedicated to Christ with whitewash and rouge; do not strangle her neck with gold and pearls; do not burden your head with precious stones; do not dye your hair red and do not remind her in any way of the fire of Gehenna. Let her have a different kind of pearl, by selling which she will later buy herself a most precious pearl. It once happened that a noble woman from the most distinguished family, on the orders of her husband Hymetius, who was the uncle of the virgin Eustochia, changed her clothes and outfit and braided her hair, which had been neglected until that time, according to secular custom, hoping to defeat the intention of the daughter and the desire of the mother. But then, that same night she sees in a dream: an Angel came to her, on whose terrible face one could see the threat of executions, and in a voice interrupted by anger he said to her: “How did you dare to prefer the order of your husband to Christ? Did you dare to touch the head of the Virgin of God with your sacrilegious hands? These hands are already drying up so that suffering will make you feel your action; and the fifth month will pass, you will descend into the underworld. If you persist in crime, you will lose both your husband and children.” So everything literally came true, and the quick death of the unfortunate woman was a sign that she was late in repentance. This is how Christ punishes the desecrators of His church; This is how he warns against expensive stones and precious jewelry! I brought this story not out of a desire to mock disasters, but in order to remind you with what fear and prudence one must fulfill the vows solemnly given to God. The priest Eli was subjected to the wrath of God for the vices of his children (1 Samuel 2-3). A bishop cannot be one who has children who are intemperate and disobedient (1 Tim. 3:4). And vice versa, it is written about a woman that she will be saved for the sake of childbearing if she continues in faith and love and in holiness with chastity (1 Tim. 2:15). If the way of life of children of full age and those who have left the father's authority is imputed to the parents: then is it not even more the responsibility of the parents that their age, infant and weak, which, according to the words of the Lord (John 9:21), does not know the right hand and the left, i.e. differences between good and evil? If you look after your daughter with care so that the viper does not bite her, why don’t you look after her with the same care so that the hammer of the whole earth does not strike her (Jer. 50:23), so that she does not drink from the golden cup of Babylon, so that she does not go out with Dinah, seeking acquaintance with the daughters of a foreign country (Gen. 34:1), does not flirt with her legs, does not drag a tunic behind her? Poisons are given only in honey; and vices deceive only under the guise and pretext of virtue! But how, you ask, is it said that children are not responsible for the vices of their fathers and fathers for the vices of their children, but the soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:20)? This is said about those who themselves can understand things, about those about whom it is said in the Gospel: he himself in perfect years, let him speak about himself (John 9:21). And who is still very small and has little meaning - everything good and bad is imputed to his parents until he enters the years of wisdom, and until the Pythagorean letter leads him to a crossroads 2. Don’t you think that the children of Christians who have not received baptism are only to blame for their sin, and that this is not charged as a crime to those who did not want to give it - they did not want to at such a special time when those who had received it could not contradict: while, on the contrary, the salvation of children benefits the parents as well? Whether to bring a daughter (as a gift to God) or not, it was in your power (since your position was different: you doomed her before you conceived); but as soon as you have dedicated it, neglecting it threatens you with danger. Whoever sacrifices something lame and mutilated and stained with some uncleanness is guilty of sacrilege (Lev. 22): how much more punishment will he suffer who prepares part of his body and the purity of a chaste soul for the embrace of the King, and does it with carelessness? When she begins to grow up and, in the image of her Bridegroom, becomes stronger in wisdom, in years and grace with God and people (Luke 2:40 et seq.), let her go to the church of the true Father with her parents; but let him not leave the church with them. Let them seek her on the path of peace among the crowds and multitudes of relatives, and let them never find her anywhere except in the sanctuary of the Scriptures, learning from the prophets and apostles about spiritual marriages. Let her imitate Mary, whom Gabriel found alone in her bedroom, and who, perhaps, was greatly horrified because she saw a man she was not accustomed to seeing. Let him imitate the one about whom it is said: all glory is within the queen's daughter (Ps. 44:14). Let her, wounded by love, speak of the Beloved: I brought the king into my bed (Song. 1:3). Let her never go out without being met by those who go around the city, beat her, inflict wounds on her, take away the veil of modesty and leave her naked, covered in blood; Let her, together with others, knock on his (the groom’s) door and say: I am a wall, and my breasts are like pillars. I have washed my feet because I defile them (Song. 8:10, 5:3). She should not dine in company, i.e. at feasts with her parents, so that she would not see food that she might want. Although some consider it a great virtue to despise real pleasures; but I believe that for abstinence it is safer not to know what you could strive for. Once upon a time, as a boy, I read in schools: “You will have difficulty fighting what you have become accustomed to.” Someone will say: therefore, you should no longer drink wine at this time, because this will be intemperance? For the weak, before reaching adulthood, abstinence is both dangerous and difficult. Until that time, if necessity requires, let her go to the baths, let her drink wine in moderation for the sake of stomach, let her eat meat, so that her legs do not weaken before she has to run. But I say this out of condescension, and not as if giving an instruction; I say it out of fear of exhaustion, and I do not teach an intemperate life. On the contrary, if superstition prompted the Jews to abstain, to some extent, from eating certain animals and foods, if both the Indian Brahmins and the Egyptian gymnosophists ate food only from barley flour, Saracen millet and vegetables: then why should the Virgin of Christ not be abstinent in everything in general? If glass was so valued, why not pearls so much more highly valued? One born as a result of a vow must live as those who were born under a vow lived. The same grace must be accompanied by the same feat. Let her be deaf to music. She should not know why a flute, a lyre, a harp exists. Every day she must present her lesson to you, like a bunch of flowers drawn from the Scriptures. Let him teach Greek poetry. But at the same time let her study Latin speech; If a gentle tongue is not accustomed to it from the very beginning, foreign sounds will spoil speech, and the native language will unpleasantly amaze the ear with errors characteristic of a foreigner. You be her teacher; let a young child imitate you. She should not see anything in you or in her father that, by imitating, she could sin. Remember that you are the girl's parents, and that you can teach her by example rather than by words. Flowers quickly wither; The destructive wind quickly dries out violets, lilies and saffron. She should never appear in public places without you. Let him not enter the basilicas of martyrs and churches without you. No young man, no curly-haired man should smile at her. Our girl must celebrate days of vigils and solemn all-night vigils in such a way that she does not leave her mother even an inch. I wouldn't want her to love any of her maids enough to whisper to her in secret. What she says to one, everyone should know. Let him choose for his companion not a dandy and a beauty who would pleasantly sing songs with a smooth throat, but a serious, pale, poorly dressed, somewhat sad woman. An old maiden of proven faith and morals should be assigned to her, who would teach her and accustom her by her own example to get up at night for prayer and psalms, to sing hymns in the morning, at the third, sixth and ninth hours to begin the feat, as an ascetic of Christ should, and when the lamp is lit, to offer the evening sacrifice. So the day will pass, and so the night will find her working. Prayer will be followed by reading, and reading will be followed by prayer. The time occupied by such a variety of activities will seem short. Let her learn how to prepare flax, hold a skewer, carry a basket on her belt, spin a spindle, and guide a thread with her fingers. Let him learn to separate silkworm tissue, Serov 3 wool, and gold into flexible threads. Let him prepare clothes that protect against the cold, and not those that expose the clothed body. Her food should be vegetables and the like, and occasionally fish; and in order not to go into a statement of rules regarding the use of food, which I have spoken about in more detail elsewhere, I note that she should eat in such a way that she always feels some hunger, so that immediately after eating she can read and sing psalms. I do not like long and immoderate fasts in very young years - fasts that last for whole weeks and during which the consumption of both oil and vegetables is prohibited. I have learned from experience that a young donkey, tired on the way, makes turns from the road. This is what the worshipers of Isis and Cybele do; in gluttonous abstinence they devour pheasants and smoking doves, in order, you see, so as not to desecrate the gifts of Ceres 4 . This should be the constant rule for fasting, so that, despite the long journey, the strength always remains equal, and so that, having run the first team, we can run the next. However, as I wrote before, on Lent, the sails of continence must be stretched, and the driver must loosen all reins to the hurrying horses. However, the position of a layman is different, that of a virgin and a monk is different. A worldly man, at Pentecost, reduces the gluttony of the belly and, like a snail, feeding on its own juice, prepares the belly for future lavish dinners and gluttony. The virgin and the monk must drive their horses at Pentecost, not forgetting at the same time that they will always have to ride them. Time-limited labor must be greater; labor not limited to a specific time is more moderate. In the first case, we rest, in the latter, we continue our journey without stopping. If you are moving to a country house, do not leave your daughter at home; even if she does not know how and will not be able to live without you; let her tremble with fear if she is left alone. She should not have conversations with secular people; Shouldn't have company with bad girls. She should not be present at the marriages of slaves and should not take part in games of a noisy nature. I know that some forbade the Virgin of Christ to bathe with eunuchs and married women: because the former do not lose their masculine dispositions, and the latter, with the fullness of their bellies during pregnancy, introduce them to shameful things. And I, for my part, do not at all approve of baths for a young girl; she should be ashamed of herself, and it should be impossible for her to see herself naked. If she withers her body by vigil and fasting, and plunges it into slavery; if she wants to extinguish the flame of lust and all the excitement of ebullient age with the cold of abstinence; if, having accustomed herself to harsh simplicity, she tries to erase natural beauty: then why, on the contrary, should she awaken the dormant fires with poultices in baths? Instead of precious stones and silk, she should love the divine Scriptures; It is not the scarlet cloth of gold and Babylonian wool, but a careful and diligent study of the things pertaining to the faith that should captivate her. Let him first of all study the Psalter and console himself with its songs; in the Proverbs of Solomon let him study the science of life. From Ecclesiastes she will acquire the skill of despising worldly things. In the Book of Job you will find examples of virtue and patience. When he turns to the Gospels, let him never let them out of his hands again. She must deeply imprint the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles on her heart. And when the storehouse of his heart is enriched with these treasures, let him exercise his memory over the Prophets, the Pentateuch, over the books of Kings, Chronicles, and also Ezra and Esther. Let him study the Book of Song of Songs, without fear, at the conclusion of everything; this is so that, by reading it at first, she does not harm her soul, not being able to understand that under the sensual images is the wedding song of spiritual marriage. She must beware of any apocrypha. And if she ever wanted to read them not for the sake of the truth of the teaching, but for the sake of respect for their titles, let her know that these are not the books of the persons to whom they are attributed in the titles, that there are many errors in them and that great prudence is required to be able to choose gold from the mud. She should always have Cyprian's work at hand. Let him read the letters of Athanasius and the books of Hilary without hindrance. She should be captivated by the judgments and animated speech of only those writers in whose books there are no traces of wavering in faith. She must read the rest in such a way as to judge them rather than to assimilate them on faith. You will say: how will I have time to look after all this - I, a secular woman, in such a crowd as in Rome? In this case, do not take on a burden that exceeds your strength; and having taken her from the breast, as they took Isaac, and having clothed her, like Samuel, they went to her grandmother and aunt. Give the most precious stone on Mary's bed, place it in the cradle of Jesus, the crying child 5 . Let her be brought up in a monastery, enter the ranks of virgins, do not know what an oath is, consider lying to be sacrilege, have no concept of the world, live like an angel, be in the body as if without a body, imagine the entire human race to be like her and, in order not to dwell on other things, let her at least free you from the difficulty of looking after and the danger of guarding. It is better for you to be bored in her absence than to be afraid in any case - what she will say, who she will talk to, who she nods to, whom she looks at with pleasure. Give baby Eustochia; her every cry is a plea to you for this. Give Eustochia a companion in holy life, a future heir. Let the little one see her, love her, be amazed by her from the first years - by her, whose speech, gait, clothing serve as the science of virtues. Let her go to the grandmother’s bed, and let the grandmother repeat over her granddaughter what she did for her daughter; She has learned through long experience to raise, protect and teach virgins, and chastity is woven into her hundredfold crown every day. Happy maiden, happy Pavel Toksotsieva! Through the virtues of her grandmother and aunt, she is noble in holiness even more than in birth. Oh, if chance would bring you to see your mother-in-law and relatives, and pay attention to the great souls in their small bodies! I have no doubt that, due to your innate chastity, you would have warned your daughter and would have preferred the second gospel law to the first sentence of God 7 . Yes, you would stop wanting more than other children; but she would rather sacrifice herself to God. But since there is a time to embrace, and a time to shrink from embracing (Eccl. 3:5), and the wife has no power over her body (1 Cor. 7:4), and in what [title] he is called, let him abide in him before the Lord (Ibid., v. 24), and the one under the yoke must run in such a way as not to leave those yoked with him in the mud: then transfer to the children everything that under other circumstances you would show to yourself. Anna, having brought the son promised to God to the tabernacle, did not take him back: she found it indecent for the future prophet to grow up in her house, because she wanted to have other children. Moreover, having conceived and given birth, she did not dare to come to the church and appear before the face of God empty-handed before paying tribute: when she made this kind of sacrifice, returning home, she gave birth to five children for herself, because she bore the firstborn to God. Are you surprised at the happiness of the holy wife? – Imitate her faith. If you send it to Pavel, I make a solemn promise that I myself will personally be her teacher and educator. I will carry her in my arms; even though I’m an old man, I’ll babble like a child; I will far surpass the secular philosopher: because I will teach not the king of Macedon, who is about to perish from the Babylonian poison, but the servant and bride of Christ, in order to present her to the heavenly kingdoms. If all the members of my body turned into tongues and all the joints began to emit human voices, then I would not say anything worthy of the virtues of the holy and venerable Paula. She was noble in birth, but much more noble in holiness; once possessed of enormous wealth, recently it has become more famous for the poverty of Christ. The branch of the Gracchi, the branch of the Scipios, the heir of Paul, from whom she received her very name, the actual and direct descendant of Marcia Papiria, the mother of Africanus, she preferred Bethlehem to Rome, and exchanged the shining golden roofs for ugly clay. We are not sad that we have lost one; but we give thanks for what we had and do not even stop having. For in God all are alive, and that which returns to the Lord is counted among the family. For an earthly church is the deprivation of a heavenly home; and while she was in the body, she was a migrant of the Lord (2 Cor. 5), and she always prayed with tears, saying: alas for me, for my coming continues, I have settled in the village of Kedar; My soul is much a stranger (Ps. 119:5-6). And it is not surprising that she cried about life “in darkness” (for this means Kidar): because the world lies in evil, and both darkness and light (Ps. 139:12), and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5). That is why she often recalled the famous words: I am a stranger and a stranger, like all my fathers (Ps. 39:13); and one more thing: I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23). Every time she was tormented by a bodily illness (which she received as a result of incredible abstinence and double fasting), she repeated the following: I pacify and enslave my body, so that, while preaching to others, I myself would not remain unworthy (1 Cor. 9:27), also: it is good not to eat meat, not to drink wine (Rom. 14:21), also: I exhausted my soul with fasting (Ps. 34:13), also: I changed my whole bed in my illness (Ps. 40:4), and also: my freshness disappeared, as in a summer drought (Ps. 31:4). And in the acute suffering of illness, which she endured with amazing patience, seeing the heavens as if open for herself, she said: who would give me wings like a dove? and would have flown away and calmed down (Ps. 54:7). I bring as witnesses Jesus and His saints, and her angel himself, who was the guardian and companion of the wondrous woman, that I do not say anything out of politeness, I do not say anything out of flattery. Whatever I say, I will say on the basis of evidence; and all this will be lower than the merit of the one whom the whole world sings, which the priests marvel at, in which the faces of virgins find the object of longed-for aspirations, which is mourned by hosts of monks and the poor. Would you like, reader, to know briefly about her virtues? “She left all her poor, she was poorer than them... And there is nothing surprising if she proved this in people close to her and in her small family, made up of slaves and servants of both sexes, whom she turned into brothers and sisters, who left Eustochia as a virgin and devoted herself to Christ as a daughter, for whose consolation this essay is being written, far from a noble family, rich only in faith and grace! But let's start the story in order. Others start talking about her from afar, from her infancy and from her most, so to speak, childish toys - they spread about her mother Blesilla and her father Rogatus: of whom the mother comes from the Scipios and Gracchi, and the father, they say, by pedigree, wealth and nobility (if you study Greek history from the first times to the present), comes from the blood of Agamemnon, who destroyed Troy after a ten-year siege. But we will praise only that which belongs to her personally, and that flows from the purest source of the holy soul. The Lord and Savior, when His apostles ask Him what reward they will receive for leaving everything for the sake of His name, teaches in the Gospel that they will receive a hundredfold now in this time, and in the future, eternal life (Mark 10). From this it is clear that it is commendable not to own wealth, but to despise it for the sake of Christ, not to be puffed up with honors, but to despise them for the sake of faith in God. Truly, the Lord rewarded in the present what He promised to His slaves and servants. She, who neglected fame in Rome alone, became famous by the verdict of the whole world; While she lived in Rome, no one knew her outside the walls of Rome: but both the barbarian and Roman land was surprised at her when she hid in Bethlehem. For from what country do people not come to holy places? And in holy places, who will find, after Paul, anything worthy of wonder in the eyes of people? Just as a precious diamond sparkles between many precious stones, and the brilliance of the sun hides and darkens the small lights of the stars: so she, with her humility, surpassed the virtues and exploits of all, being the least of all, in order to be greater than all. And the more she humbled herself, the more Christ exalted her. She hid, and did not hide. By fleeing from glory, she earned glory: for this glory follows virtue like a shadow, fleeing from those who seek it and chasing after those who have neglected it. But what am I doing? By deviating from the sequence of the story and going into particulars, I violate the rules of eloquence. So, belonging by birth to such a surname, she entered into marriage with Toxocius, in whose veins flowed the famous blood of Aeneas and the Julians. Why, and her daughter Eustochia, the Virgin of Christ, is called Julia; and himself "Julius inherited the name of the great Yul" We talk about this not because it is of importance to those who own it, but because the contempt with which they treated all this is truly worthy of surprise. Secular people revere those who enjoy such privileges. And we praise those who despise them; and what is surprising is that he who values ​​these privileges is given little respect, but he who renounces them is praised. Paul, I say, from such ancestors, with her fertility and at the same time chastity, she acquired respect both from her husband and from her relatives, and in the opinion of all Rome. She gave birth to five children: Blesilla, on the occasion of whose death I sent her consolation to Rome, - Paulina, who left a holy and admirable husband as heir to her vows and property, Pammachius, to whom we wrote a short essay regarding her death, - Eustochia, who is currently the most precious necklace of virginity and the church in holy places, - Rufina, who with an early death tore apart the pious heart of her mother, and Toxocia. After Toxocia, she stopped giving birth: from which it is clear that for a long time she did not want to fulfill marital duties, but only obeyed her husband, who wanted male children. When her husband died, she cried for him to such an extent that she almost died - she devoted herself to serving the Lord to such an extent that it seemed as if she wanted him dead. What can I say about these properties of a famous, noble and once richest house, which are almost all spent on the poor? What can I say about this soul, most merciful to everyone, about this kindness that extends even to those whom it has never seen? What poor person who died was not buried in her clothes? What patient was not supported at her expense? She looked for them throughout Rome, and considered it a loss for herself if anyone sick and hungry received food from another. She ruined her children, and when her relatives reproached her, she said that she was leaving them an incomparably greater inheritance in the mercy of Christ. Not for long was she able to endure the visits and acquaintances of what was, in the opinion of the world, a famous family and a noble family. The honors with which she was treated saddened her; she was in a hurry to avoid the praise and run away. When the imperial messages, on the occasion of certain differences between the churches, gathered the bishops of the east and west to Rome, she saw amazing men and high priests of Christ, Paulinus, bishop of the city of Antioch, and Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis of Cyprus, which is now called Constantia; Of these, Epiphanius lived with her, and Pavlina, although he lived in someone else’s house, received her out of love for humanity as if she were her own. Captivated by their virtues, she immediately decided to leave her fatherland. Forgetting home, kinship, estates, everything that belonged to the world, alone (so to speak) and not accompanied by anyone, she prepared to fly into the desert of Antoniev and Pavlov. And when the winter passed, the sea became navigable and the bishops began to return to their churches, she sailed with them, according to her vow and desire. But why am I moving away? Here she goes to the harbor; she is accompanied by her brother, relatives, in-laws, and, most importantly, by children who want to conquer their most merciful mother with their love. The sails have already been unfurled, and under the oars of the rowers the ship goes out into the depths. Little Toksotsiy stretches out pleading hands from the shore. Rufina, already a bride, begs with silent tears to wait for her marriage. And despite this, she raised her clear eyes to the sky, conquering her love for children with her love for God. She did not recognize herself as a mother in order to prove that she was a servant of Christ. Her insides were turning over, and it was as if she was being torn to pieces in her struggle with grief, but she was all the more amazing to everyone because she had overcome great love. Being in the hands of enemies and suffering the harsh misfortunes of captivity is not as painful as being separated by parents from their children. She not only endured this separation, contrary to the laws of nature, with complete faith, but also desired it with a joyful soul; and neglecting love for children in the name of a greater love for God, she found consolation in one Eustochia, who shared both her intention and her journey. The ship, meanwhile, plowed the sea, and the eyes of everyone leaving with her were turned back to the shore; and she looked in the opposite direction, so as not to see those whom she could not look at without heartache. No one, I must admit, loved children as much as she did: before her departure, she was completely devoted to them; depriving herself of everything on earth, she gained everything in heaven. The current of the sea brought her to the island of Pontius, which gained fame as a result of exile, under the emperor Domitian, for declaring herself a Christian, the once most famous of women, Flavia Domitilla. Seeing those small huts in which she spent long days of suffering, Paul, having raised the sails of faith, wanted to visit Jerusalem and the holy places. The winds blew quietly, and the ship sailed slowly, despite its apparent speed. Having passed between Scylla and Charybdis, she entrusted herself to the Adriatic Sea and came to Methon, as if for a stopover. Having strengthened my weak body here a little, and “Giving salt to the penetrated members on the shore to rest” “And the Cyclades scattered in the sea, Densely furnished, on bays, rocks,” finally arrived, after Rhodes and Lycia, in Cyprus. Here she fell at the feet of the holy and venerable Epiphanius, and was held by him for ten days. She did not use this time for rest, as he assumed, but for the work of God, as this explained itself. For while visiting all the monasteries of this country, she eased, as much as she could, the difficulty of supporting the brethren, attracted here from all over the world by the love of a holy man. From there she quickly sailed to Seleucia, and from there, reaching Antioch, she was detained for some time by the love of the holy confessor Paulinus; and then, in the middle of winter, warmed by the fire of faith, this noble woman, who had previously been carried in the arms of eunuchs, went further, sitting on a donkey. I am keeping silent about her journey through Coelesyria and Phenicia (I did not even intend to write her travel diary); but I will name only those places that are mentioned in the sacred books. Leaving behind her the Roman colony of Beritus and the ancient city of Sidon, on the banks of Sarepta, the former refuge of Elijah (1 Kings 17), she visited the tower 8; prayed here to the Lord Savior, she through the sands of Tire, on which Paul imprinted his tribes (Acts 21:5), reached Akka, which is currently called Ptolemais, and through the fields of Mageddon, which witnessed the murder of Josiah (2 Kings 23:29), entered the land of the Philistines. She marveled at the ruins of Dora, once the most powerful city; and with a surprise of the opposite nature she examined the fortifications of Straton, named Caesarea by the Jewish king Herod, in honor of Caesar Augustus: here she saw the house of Cornelius, turned into the Church of Christ, the house of Philip and the bedrooms of four virgin prophetesses 9 . Then she visited Antipatris, a dilapidated town named by Herod after his father Herod, and Lydda, renamed Diospolis, famous for the resurrection and healing of Chamois and Aeneas (Acts 9:32 et seq.). Not far from here she saw Arimathea, the village of Joseph, who buried the Lord, and Nob, which was once a priestly city, and now is the grave of the slain (1 Samuel 22). She also visited Joppa - the port from which Jonah fled, and (I will note at least something from the fables of the poets) the place where Andromeda was chained to a rock. On the way back she saw Nikopol, formerly called Emmaus, where in the breaking of bread the Lord made himself known (Luke 24:13 et seq.) and thus converted the house of Cleopas into a church. Departing from here, she visited Bethhoron lower and upper (2 Chronicles 8:5), cities built by Solomon, but then destroyed by an accidental war. Turning to the right, she saw Aglon and Gibeon, where Joshua, fighting with five kings, commanded the sun and moon, and condemned the Gibeonites themselves to be water-carriers and woodcutters for an alliance sought by cunning and guile (Joshua 9–10). In Gabai, a city destroyed to its very foundation, she spent some time in memories of the sin of the city, of a married woman cut into pieces and of the thirty men of the tribe of Benjamin saved for the sake of the Apostle Paul 10. But why am I delaying? Leaving on the left the mausoleum of Helen, who, as Queen of Adiabene, brought food to the people during famine, she entered Jerusalem, a city bearing three names - Jebus, Salim, Jerusalem, later rebuilt from ruins and ashes by Elius Hadrian, under the name of Elijah. The Palestinian proconsul, who knew her name well, ordered the bailiffs sent in advance to prepare the praetorium 11; but she chose a poor hut. Here she went around all the places with such fervor and love that she would not have been able to tear herself away from the first ones if she had not hurried to the others. Having prostrated herself before the cross, she prayed as if she saw the Lord hanging on it. Having entered the cave of resurrection, she kissed the stone that the angel had rolled away from the door of the tomb; and to the place of the body on which the Lord lay, she fell with her believing lips, just as a thirsty person falls to long-desired waters. How many tears she shed there, how many moans and sorrows she poured out, all Jerusalem is a witness, the Lord himself, to whom she prayed, is a witness. Coming out of there, she ascended to Zion, which means “castle” or “watchtower.” This city was once conquered and restored by David. About its conquest it is said: woe to you, city of Ariel, i.e. “Lion of God,” and once very strong, but David was a warrior (Is. 29:1); and about the renewed one it is said: its foundation is on the holy mountains: the Lord loves the gates of Zion, more than any villages of Jacob (Ps. 87:2). – He loves not those gates that we now see turned to dust and ashes, but those that hell cannot overcome, through which many believers enter Christ. She was shown a column supporting the church portico, stained with the blood of the Lord, to which, they say, He was tied for scourging. They showed her the place where the Holy Spirit descended on one hundred and twenty believing souls, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:17–18). Then, having distributed money in proportion to her small fortune to the poor and fellow servants, she continued her journey to Bethlehem. Turning off the road to the right, she stopped at the tomb of Rachel - at the place where Benjamin was born, not Benoni, i.e. the son of my sickness (Gen. 35:18), as the dying mother called him, but the son of the right hand, as the father called him with the prophetic spirit. Departing from here, she entered the cave of the Savior, and after she saw the sacred shelter of the Virgin and the stall in which the ox knows its owner, and the donkey - its master's manger (Isa. 1:3) - in fulfillment of what is written by the same prophet: blessed are you who sow by all the waters and send thither the ox and the ass (Is. 32:20), she swore in my hearing that she saw with her eyes faith of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, the Lord crying in a manger, the worshiping Magi, a star shining from on high, the Virgin Mother, a diligent teacher, shepherds who came at night to see the fulfillment of the word spoken to them (Luke 2:17), and at the same time, begin to preach the Evangelist John: in the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh (John. 1:1, 14), - she saw the beaten babies, the raging Herod, Joseph and Mary, fleeing to Egypt... And mixing tears with joy, she said: “Rejoice, Bethlehem, house of bread, in which was born the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:33); Rejoice Ephrathah, most abundant and fruitful land, the fruit of which was God. “Micah once prophesied about you: and you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrath, are you small among the thousands of Judah?” from you will come to me one who is to be ruler in Israel, and whose origin was from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore He will leave them until the time when she who is about to give birth gives birth; then their remaining brothers will return to the children of Israel (Micah 5:2–3). And in you, indeed, was born the Prince, born before the Lucifer (Ps. 109:3), whose birth from the Father ascends beyond all time. And the root of the family of David remained in you until the Virgin gave birth, and until the remnant of the people who believed in Christ turned to the children of Israel and boldly proclaimed: you were the first to preach the word of God; but since you reject it and make yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). For the Lord said: He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). At the same time, the words of Jacob were fulfilled over them: the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until the Reconciler comes, and to Him the submission of the nations (Gen. 49:10). David swore well, he made vows well, saying: I will not enter the tent of my house, I will not ascend to my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes and to my eyelids - slumber, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob (Ps. 132:3-5); and immediately declared what he wanted, and the one who, as we believe, had already come, he saw with prophetic eyes the one still having to come. Behold, we heard about him in Ephrath, we found him in the fields of Jaarim (Ibid., v. 6). For the Hebrew word “zo,” as you taught me, does not mean Mary, the mother of the Lord, but him. That is why he says with boldness: let us go to His habitation, let us worship at the footstool of His feet (Ibid., v. 7). And I, unworthy and sinner, am worthy to kiss the manger in which the Child Lord cried? - to pray in that cave where the Virgin Mary gave birth to the child of the Lord? Here is my peace, because this is the fatherland of my Lord. This is where I will live, for this is the place the Savior chose. I have prepared a lamp for my Christ (Ps. 131:17). For Him my soul will live, and my seed will serve Him (Ps. 21:30–31). From there she walked not far to the Gader Tower, i.e. “shame” (Gen. 35:21): near her Jacob tended his flocks, and the shepherds who were awake at night were worthy to hear: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:14). While they were guarding the sheep, they found a Lamb, whose fleece, bright and clean, was covered with heavenly dew, during the widespread drought on earth (Judges 6:37), whose blood washed away the sins of the world and, smeared on the doorposts, put the destroyer of Egypt to flight (Exodus 12). Without stopping here, she went along the old road that leads to Gaza, into the “power” or “abundance” of God, and in silence reflected on how the Ethiopian eunuch, transforming the pagan nations, changed his skin, and, rereading the Old Testament, opened the source of the Gospel (Acts 8). From here I turned right. Bozrah is followed by Eschol, which is translated "grapes" (Num. 13:24–25). From here, as proof of the fertility of the earth and in the image of Him who said: I trodden the winepress alone, and none of the nations was with Me (Isa. 63:3), the spies brought out a vine branch of amazing size. Not far from there, she visited Sarah's hut, saw the birthplace of Isaac and the traces of Abraham's oak, under which he saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced. Having left there, she went to Hebron, this one is Kariafarbe, i.e. the city of four men - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the forefather Adam, whom the Jews consider buried there, based on the book of Joshua 12, although many consider the fourth to be Caleb, who is mentioned there in passing. Having examined this area, she did not want to go further to Kariath Sephor, i.e. “the chains of letters” (Judges 1): because, despising the deadening letter, she sought the life-giving spirit. With great surprise she examined the upper and lower waters, which Othniel, the son of Jephonia Kenaz, received into possession instead of the midday and dry land (Judges 1), and having carried them through, he filled the fields of the former covenant that had hitherto suffered from drought, so that in the waters of baptism he could find atonement for ancient sins. The next day, when the sun rose, she stopped at the top of Kafar Barukh, i.e. “villages of blessing”: Abraham accompanied the Lord to this place. Looking out from there below at the stretching desert and the former area of ​​Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama and Zeboim, she contemplated the balsam vineyards in Engaddi (Song. 1:13) and Zoar, the three-year-old youth (Isa. 15), which was first called Baloya, and then, translated into Syriac, Zohar, i.e. "baby" She remembered Lot's cave, and turning with tears, she exhorted the virgins accompanying her to beware of the wine in which lies intemperance, the fruit of which were the Moabites and the Ammonites (Gen. 19). But I linger for a long time in the south, where the Bride found her groom sleeping (Song. 1:6) and where Joseph feasted with his brothers (Gen. 43:16–34). I will return to Jerusalem, and through the mountains of Tekua and Amos I will see the shining gold cross of the Mount of Olives, from which the Savior ascended to the Father. On this mountain every year a red-haired young woman was burned as a sacrifice to the Lord, and her ashes atoned for the sins of the people of Israel (Num. 19); in it, the cherubim who moved from the church founded, according to Ezekiel, the church of the Lord (Ezek. 10, cf. ch. 11:22–23). Having then visited the tomb of Lazarus, she saw the hospitable house of Mary and Martha, and Bethphage, like priestly jaws, and the place where the playful cub of paganism was bridled by the divine hand, and covered with apostolic robes, with a soft back for sitting (Luke 19). Then she went down the straight road to Jericho, reflecting, on the basis of the Gospel, about the famous wounded man and about the mercy, in the face of the cruelty of the passing priests and Levites, the Samaritan, i.e. "guard" who, having laid the half-dead beast on his cattle, took it to the inn of the church (Luke 10). She visited the place of Adomim, which translates as “blood”, since a lot of blood was shed there during frequent robber raids, and the fig tree of Zacchaeus, i.e. good fruits of repentance, with which he atoned for his previous bloody and predatory sins, and from the height of virtues he saw the Most High Lord, and the place of the blind, near the road (Matthew 20:30), who, having received insight, predicted the sacrament of turning to faith in the Lord of both peoples 13. Having entered Jericho, she saw the city that Achilus founded on Abiron, his firstborn, and the gates of which he set on Segub, the youngest of his sons (Joshua 6:25; 1 Kings 16:34). She examined the Gilgal camp and the hill of circumcision - a mysterious prototype of the second circumcision (Joshua 5), ​​and twelve stones carried there from the bed of the Jordan (Joshua 4) and laying a solid foundation for the twelve apostles; She also examined the source of the law, which the true Elisha seasoned and turned into sweetness and fertility with his wisdom (2 Kings 2:19–22). As soon as the night had passed, during scorching heat, she came to the Jordan, stopped on the bank of the river, and when the sun rose, she remembered the sun of righteousness - she remembered how in the middle of the river bed, the priests stood on dry land (Joshua 3:17), how, at the behest of Elijah and Elisha, a wave made way, and the waters stood here and there (2 Kings 2), how the Lord cleansed her with his baptism waters polluted by the flood and stained by the destruction of the entire human race. It would be long to talk about the valley of Achor, i.e. “anxiety” and “turmoil,” in which theft and greed are condemned (Josh. 7), and Bethel, the house of God, where Jacob fell asleep naked and wretched on the bare ground, and, putting a stone under his head, which in Zechariah is depicted as having seven eyes (Zech. 3:9), and in Isaiah is called the cornerstone (Is. 28:16), he saw a staircase, ascending to heaven, on which the Lord was established above (Genesis 28), giving a helping hand to those ascending and casting down the careless from the heights. She also bowed to the tomb of Joshua, the son of Nun, on Mount Ephraim, and to the one lying opposite the tomb of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest: one of them was buried in Timnath-Sarai, on the north side of Mount Gaasha, the other in Gibeath, her son Phinehas (Joshua 24); and she was much surprised that the one who distributed the possessions chose for himself a mountainous and rocky area. What can I say about Shiloh, in which the ruins of an altar are still shown today and where the tribe of Benjamin warned Romulus of the abduction of the Sabine women (Judges 21)? She crossed Shechem (not Sichar, as many mistakenly read: Naples is currently called by this name), and entered the church built near Mount Garizin around Jacob's well; the thirsty and hungry Lord sat above him and filled the Samaritan woman with faith, who, after five husbands - the five books of Moses, and the sixth, whom she did not dare declare as a husband, leaving the delusion of Dositheus, came to know the true Messiah and the true Savior. On the way back from there, she saw twelve tombs of the patriarchs, Sebastia, i.e. Samaria, which Herod, having translated from Greek, named in honor of Augustus - Augusta. The prophets were buried there: Elisha and Obadiah, and John the Baptist, more than whom there was none among those born of women (Matthew 11:11). There she trembled, frightened by many wonderful things: for she saw demons roaring from various torments, and in front of the tombs of holy people howling like wolves, barking like dogs, neighing like lions, screaming like snakes, roaring like bulls. There were also those who turned their heads around and touched the ground with the top of their heads over their backs; and for women hanging upside down, their clothes did not fall over their faces. She had compassion for everyone, and shedding tears for everyone, she prayed to Christ for mercy. Although she was sick, she walked up the mountain on foot, on which, in two caves, during persecution and famine, the prophet Obadiah fed one hundred prophets with bread and water (1 Kings 18:4). From here she quickly ran through Nazareth, the nurse of the Lord, Cana and Capernaum, witnesses of His miracles, Lake Tiberias, sanctified by the swimming of the Lord, the desert, in which many thousands of people were fed with a few loaves, and the baskets of the twelve tribes of Israel were filled with the remains of dishes. She went up Mount Tabor, where the Lord was transfigured. I looked from afar at Mount Hermon and Hermonim, and at the wide-spread fields of Galilee, on which the conqueror Barak overthrew Sisera and the entire army (Judges 4), - at the stream Kison, crossing the middle of the plain; and nearby the city of Nain was seen, in which the widow’s son was resurrected. But I would rather lack life than words if I wanted to slightly review all those places that the Venerable Paula went through with incredible determination. I'll move on to Egypt; I will stop for a while in Succoth and at the spring that Samson brought out from the molar of his jaw (Judges 15:19), and I will wash my dry lips, so that, having refreshed my strength, I will visit Morasphim - once the tomb of the prophet Micah, now a church. I will leave Horreos and Getheos, Maresa, Idumea and Lachish aside, and through the softest sands that hide the traces of those walking, and the wide expanse of the desert, I will go to the Egyptian river Sior, which means “stormy”; I will cross the five Egyptian cities that speak in the language of Canaan (Isa. 19:18), and the land of Goshen, and the fields of Taneos, in which God performed miracles (Ps. 77:12). I will cross the city of No, which later turned to Alexandria, and the city of the Lord Nitria, where the purest saltpeter (nitro) of virtues daily washes away the impurities of many. When she saw this city, she saw that the holy and venerable Bishop Isidore the Confessor and countless hosts of monks were coming to meet her, many of whom, moreover, were elevated to the rank of priest and Levite, although she rejoiced at the glory of God, she recognized herself as unworthy of such an honor. What can I say about Macarii, Arseniy, Serapion and other pillars of Christ? Whose cell did she not enter? at whose feet did you not fall? In each of the saints she thought to see Christ; and when she did something for them, she rejoiced that she was doing it for the Lord. Amazing ardor and firmness, barely possible in women! Forgetting gender and bodily infirmity, she wanted to settle with her young girls among so many thousands of monks. Perhaps she would have achieved her desire, since everyone agreed to accept her, if her love for holy places had not drawn her back with great force. Why, having traveled from Pelusa to Maiuma, due to the very intense heat, by water, she returned with such speed as a bird is capable of. Soon after, intending to stay forever in Bethlehem, she lived for three years in a cramped hospitable house until she built cells and monasteries, and founded hotels for various wanderers along the road along which Mary and Joseph did not find where to lay their heads. Let this end the description of the path along which she walked, accompanied by many maidens and her daughter. I will now proceed to describe at greater length that virtue which was her distinguishing characteristic. I warn you that in this description, God is my judge and witness, I will not add anything, I will not exaggerate anything, as those who write laudatory speeches are wont to do; but on the contrary, in order not to overstep the limits of probability, I am holding back a lot: let my slanderers and people who always slander me not think that I am inventing and decorating Esop’s crow with other people’s feathers. In relation to the first of the Christian virtues: she humiliated herself to such an extent that those who did not see her and longed to see her for the sake of the celebrity of her name mistook her not for her, but for the last of the maids. And when she was surrounded by numerous faces of maidens, by her clothes, by her voice, by her appearance and by her manners, she seemed the least of all. After the death of her husband, until the day of her death, she did not dine with any man, even though she knew that he was a holy man and placed at the height of the high priest. She entered the baths only to inspect them. She did not have soft feather beds on her bed even during the most severe fever; but she slept on the hardest ground, covered only with hair shirts, if it can only be said that she slept who connected the days with the nights with unceasing prayers, fulfilling in practice what was said in the Psalter: every night I wash my bed, I wet my bed with my tears (Ps. 6:7). One would have thought that there were whole sources of tears in her eyes; one could come to the conclusion that she was guilty of the most terrible crimes: she began to sob so easily about sin. And when we, quite often, exhorted her to spare her eyes and take care of them for reading the Gospel, she said: “I should disfigure my face, which, contrary to the commandment of God, I often painted with rouge and whitewash. It is necessary to exhaust the body, which has indulged too much in pleasure. Prolonged laughter must be rewarded with incessant crying. Delicate fabrics and precious silks must be replaced by harsh hair shirt. Having pleased my husband and the world, I now want to please Christ.” If, among so many and such virtues, I began to praise her chastity, my words would be superfluous: when she was still a secular woman, she was an example for all the noble women of Rome, and behaved in such a way that even evil gossip never dared to touch her in anything. There was nothing more condescending than her heart, nothing more welcoming in her attitude towards ordinary people. She did not curry favor with the powerful; but she did not turn away with contempt from the proud and vain. If she saw a poor person, she helped, and she exhorted the rich to give to charity. Only her generosity exceeded all boundaries. When lending, she often made the loan herself, so as not to refuse help to anyone who asked. I confess my sin: when she was very wasteful in distribution, I condemned her, citing a well-known passage from the Apostle: it is not required that there should be relief for others, and heaviness for you, but that there should be uniformity. Now your abundance is to make up for their lack; and then their abundance to supply your lack (2 Cor. 8:13–14), and the following passage from the Gospel of the Savior: he who has two coats, give to the poor (Luke 3:11); at the same time, I told her that she should plan so that she would always be able to do what she did willingly, and much more like that. She resolved these objections of mine with amazing modesty and restraint: she called God as a witness that she was doing everything for the sake of His name, that this was her vow - to die a beggar herself, not to leave her daughter even one penny, and to lie down in her grave in someone else’s shroud. In conclusion she said: “If I ask, there will be many who will give it to me; and if this beggar does not receive from me, which I can give him even from someone else’s, and dies: from whom will his soul be exacted?” I wished that she would be more prudent in her household; but she, flaming with faith, clung to the Savior with all her heart, and poor in spirit, of her own free will, she followed the Lord who had nothing, returning to Him everything she received. Finally, she achieved what she wanted - she left her daughter in large debts, which she, having not yet paid off, hopes to cover not from her own funds, but by trusting in the mercy of Christ. Many noble women have the custom of bestowing gifts on their trumpeters, and, being extravagant beyond measure in relation to a few, stingy in relation to the rest: she had absolutely no such vice; she divided her wealth among everyone, so that everyone had what he needed, not for luxury, but for necessary expenses. Not a single poor person returned from her empty-handed. What she acquired, she acquired not for increasing wealth, but for wise use; she always repeated: blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). And one more thing: water will extinguish the flame of fire, and alms will cleanse sins (Sir. 3:30). Also: make friends with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes (Luke 16:9). And one more thing: it is better to give alms from what you have, then everything will be clean for you (Luke 11:41). The same goes for the words of Daniel, who exhorted King Nebuchadnezzar to atone for his sins with alms (Dan. 4:24). She wanted to spend money not on these stones, which will lose value along with the earth and the age, but on those living stones that roll on the earth (Zech. 9:16), from which in the Apocalypse of John (Rev. 21:10 et seq.) the city of the great king is built: Scripture notes that they should turn into sapphire, emerald, jasper and other precious stones. However, she may have all this in common with few; and the devil knows that this is not the height of virtue. Therefore, after Job’s property was destroyed, his house was destroyed, his children were killed, he says to the Lord: skin for skin, and for his life a man will give everything that he has; But stretch out Your hand and touch his flesh, will he bless You? ( Job 2:4–5 ). We know that many gave alms, but did not deny themselves anything, provided help to those in need, but overcome by the lust of the flesh, they adorned what was outside, but inside remained full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness (Matthew 23:27). But Paula was not like that; Her abstinence was so great that it exceeded almost proper limits, and excessive fasts and exploits ruined her health. Except for holidays, she barely allowed herself to eat butter, so one can therefore judge how she looked at wine and broth, fish, milk, honey, eggs, and other things pleasing to the taste. Eating the latter, some imagine themselves to be the most abstinent, and consider their chastity to be completely safe if they have loaded their belly with all this. But virtue is always pursued by envy, “and lightning strikes mountains that surpass others in height” (Horace). There is nothing to be surprised if I say this about people, when even our Lord was crucified due to the envy of the Pharisees; all the saints had envious people, and in paradise itself there was a serpent, through whose envy death entered the world (Wis. 2:24). The Lord raised up for her Paul Ader the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14), who humiliated her, lest he be exalted, and, being, as it were, a kind of scourge for her flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), he often reminded her not to exaggerate her virtues, and, having before her eyes the vices of other women, not to consider herself established in her superiority. You need to give in to anger, I told her, you need to give room to anger. This is what Jacob did to his brother Esau, and David did to his worst enemy, Saul; the first of them fled to Mesopotamia, the last gave himself up to foreigners, wishing better to be subject to enemies than to envious people. But she answered me: “What you said would be completely fair if the devil waged war against the men and women of God not everywhere, and those running away did not meet him in front of them wherever they run; If, moreover, my love for holy places did not hold me back, and I could find my Bethlehem in another part of the world. Why don't I overcome anger with patience? Why not crush pride with humility, and turn the other to the one who struck you on the cheek? The Apostle Paul says: overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). Didn’t the apostles boast when they endured reproach for the Lord’s sake? And did not the Savior himself humble himself, taking on the form of a servant, and becoming obedient to the Father even to the point of death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:7–8), in order to save us through his sufferings? If Job had not fought and won the fight, he would not have been crowned for his righteousness and would not have heard from the Lord: Do you want to overthrow My judgment, accuse Me in order to justify yourself? (Job 40:3). In the Gospel those who endure persecution for the sake of righteousness are called blessed (Matthew 5:10). A clear conscience knows that we do not suffer because of our sins, and that insults in this age are the subject of a reward. If the enemy became more impudent and reached the point of open warfare, she repeated a well-known passage from the Psalter: as long as the wicked was before me, I was dumb and voiceless, and was silent even about good things (Ps. 39:2-3); and again: but I am like a deaf man who does not hear, and like a dumb man who does not open his mouth; and I became like a man who does not hear and has no answer in his mouth (Ps. 37:14-15). In temptations, she repeated the words of Deuteronomy: The Lord your God is tempting you to find out whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut. 13:3). In sorrows and disasters, did you think about the words of Isaiah: weaned from breast milk, weaned from their mother’s breasts? For everything is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Therefore they will speak to this people with babbling lips and in a foreign language (Isa. 28:9-11). And the testimony of Scripture was her consolation: such is the lot, she affirmed, of those who have been milked, i.e. those who have reached adulthood must endure sorrow after sorrow, so that they may be worthy to receive hope after hope: knowing that from tribulation comes patience, and from patience comes experience, from experience does hope, and hope does not put you to shame (Rom. 5:3-5). And if our outer man decays, then the inner man will be renewed: for our momentary light suffering produces eternal glory in an immeasurable abundance, when we look not at what is seen, but at what is unseen: for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (2 Cor. 4:17-18). And the time will not be long, even if it seems long to human impatience; for help soon follows from God, who says: in an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you (Is. 49:8). You should not be afraid of the crafty lips or the tongues of wicked people, but rejoice in the Lord, your helper, and listen to Him, who exhorts through the prophet: do not be afraid of the reproach of people, and do not be afraid of their slander. For moths eat them like clothing (Isa. 51:7–8). And again: with your patience save your souls (Luke 21:19). Also: present temporary sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18). And in another place: whatever happens to you, accept it willingly, and be patient in the vicissitudes of your humiliation (Sir. 2:4). – For a quick-tempered person can do something stupid, but a wise person endures much (Prov. 14:29). During times of loss of strength and frequent illnesses, she said: when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). But we carry this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the superabundant power may be attributed to God, and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7); until this corruptible puts on the incorruptible, and this mortal puts on the immortal (1 Cor. 15:54). And one more thing: for as the sufferings of Christ increase in us, our consolation also increases through Christ (2 Cor. 1:5). And one more thing: you participate both in our suffering and in our consolation (ibid., v. 7). When I was sad, I sang: Why are you sad, my soul, and why are you embarrassed? Trust in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God (Ps. 41:12). During times of danger, she said: if anyone wants to come after Me, deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Luke 9:23); And one more thing: whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his life for Me and the Gospel will save it (ibid., v. 24). When she was informed about the losses in the household and about the ruin of all the property left to her from her father, she said: what good does it do to a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Or what ransom will a man give for his soul? (Matthew 16:26). And one more thing: naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I return. The Lord gave, the Lord also took away; Blessed be the name of the Lord! ( Job 1:21 ); Also: do not love the world, nor the things in the world: for everything that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but from this world. And the world is passing away, and so is its lust (1 John 2:15–17). I know that they wrote to her about the cruel illnesses of children and especially Toxocius, whom she loved most of all. And although she courageously justified what was known to herself: I am shocked and cannot speak (Ps. 76:5), she involuntarily expressed herself in the following words: and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matthew 10:37). And praying to the Lord, she said: “Possess, O Lord, those doomed to death (Ps. 78:11), who kill their bodies for Your sake every day.” I knew one earphone (the most evil kind of people!), who, under the guise of a well-wisher, informed her that some considered her insane for being excessively ardent in virtue and said that she must have inflammation in the brain. She answered him: we have become a disgrace to the world, to angels and men (1 Cor. 4:9); and one more thing: we are fools for Christ’s sake (ibid., v. 10): but the foolish things of God are wiser than men (1 Cor. 1:25). Why does the Savior speak to the Father: You know my madness (Ps. 68:6); and one more thing: for many I was like a wonder, but You are my firm hope (Ps. 70:7), I was like cattle before You (Ps. 72:22). According to the Gospel, his relatives wanted to bind Him, as if he was not fully sane (Mark 3:21), and his enemies dishonored Him, saying that He has a demon, and is a Samaritan (John 8:48), and he casts out demons only by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons (Matthew 12:24). But we hear the admonitions of the Apostle: this praise of ours is a testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not by carnal wisdom, but by the grace of God, we lived in the world (2 Cor. 1:12), and we hear the Lord saying to the apostles: if you were of the world, the world would love its own; But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you (John 15:19). And she turned to the Lord himself with these words: All this has come upon us; but we have not forgotten You, nor have we broken Your covenant. Our heart did not turn back (Ps. 43:18–19). Also: for Your sake we are put to death every day; we are counted as sheep doomed to the slaughter (Rom. 8:36); but the Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid of what man does to me (Ps. 117:6). For she read: my son! Honor the Lord and you will be strong: fear no one else besides Him (Prov. 7:1). With such and similar thoughts from the Scriptures, as if some kind of divine weapon, she armed herself both against all curses, and especially against the fierce hatred towards her, and tamed the fury of her frenzied heart by patiently enduring insults. Finally, on the day of her death, both her patience and the envy of others became clear to everyone, an envy that gnawed at its very culprit, and reveled only in its own inner rage while it tried to insult the one it hated. I will also tell you about the structure of her monastic life - about how she turned the community of saints to her advantage. She sowed bodily things in order to reap spiritual things (1 Cor. 9:11), gave earthly things in order to take heavenly things, gave up transitory things in order to receive eternal things instead. Having founded a monastery and transferred it to the management of men, she divided into three communities and monasteries that many virgins, both noble and middle and lower status, which she had collected from different countries - she divided it in such a way that, being divided in work and food, they were united in psalmody and prayers. When the hallelujah was sung (this was a sign calling for the congregation), no one was allowed to stay at home. Having come herself first, or among the first, she encouraged others to come, calling to feat with shame and example, and not fear. In the morning, at three, six, nine, in the evening and at midnight, they sang the Psalter according to the rules. Each of the sisters was required to know the psalms, and to memorize something from the sacred Scriptures every day. Only on Sunday did they come to the church near which they lived. Each department of them followed, in this case, after its mother, and returning from there in the same order, they zealously continued the work distributed among them, and prepared clothes for themselves or others. Those of noble origin were not allowed to have anyone from their family as a concubine, so that the latter, remembering her former life, would not conjure up long-standing delusions of her playful childhood and would not renew them in her memory through frequent conversations. There was one outfit for everyone. They used linen only for wiping their hands. There was such a separation from men that she kept them away even from the eunuchs, so as not to give any reason to their slanderous tongue, which was accustomed to blaspheme the saints as a consolation for their powerlessness. If any of the virgins came later than others to sing psalms, or was lazier than others in work, she began to correct her in various ways. If she was angry, she began with affection, if she was patient, with a reprimand, imitating the well-known rule of the apostle: what do you want? shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of meekness? (1 Cor. 4:21). Apart from food and clothing, it was not allowed to have anything else, in accordance with the words of the apostle: having food and clothing, we will be content with that (1 Tim. 6:8); this is so that the custom of having more does not give room to greed, which is not satisfied by any wealth, and the more you have, the more you seek; and neither their abundance nor their poverty diminished. She reconciled those who quarreled with each other with complete meekness in speech. The frisky flesh of young girls was tamed by frequent and redoubled fasts, wanting their stomachs to suffer better than their souls. If she saw someone dressed up, with frowning eyebrows and a sad look, she denounced the mistaken one, saying that the purity of the body and clothes is the impurity of the soul. The word shameful and voluptuous should never have come from the lips of virgins: for this serves as a sign of a voluptuous soul and reveals through the outer man the vices of the inner man. If you notice that any of the girls is a chatterbox, a chatterbox, and loves quarrels, and does not correct itself after frequent admonitions; - she stood at prayer at the door of the dining room, between the very last and outside the company of the sisters, and forced them to eat separately, in order to correct with shame if they did not correct the reprimands. She considered theft as vile as sacrilege. What among secular people is considered unimportant and insignificant, in monasteries she called the most terrible crime. Do I need to remember her mercy and attentiveness to the sick, whom she cared for with amazing courtesy and helpfulness? When others fell ill, she provided them with everything in abundance, and even fed them meat; but when she herself fell ill, she was not lenient towards herself, and did not seem impartial in that she exchanged lenience towards others for cruelty towards herself. Not a single young girl with a healthy, strong body indulged in such abstinence as she indulged in with her tired, senile, decrepit little body. I admit that in this regard she was the most stubborn, did not spare herself and did not yield to anyone’s admonitions. I'll tell you what I learned from my own experience. In July, during a terrible heat, she fell ill with fever; after a completely hopeless condition, by the grace of God, she began to recover and the doctors, to strengthen her body, prescribed her to drink light, moderate-strength wine, so that drinking water would not cause water sickness. I secretly asked blessed Pope Epiphanius to convince and even force her to drink wine; but she, being smart and insightful, immediately understood the trick and announced with a smile that everything he said was mine. What more? When the blessed high priest, after much exhortation, came out of the door, and I asked him what he had managed to do, he answered: I managed so much that she almost convinced me, an old man, not to drink wine. I am talking about this not because I approved of work undertaken recklessly and beyond one’s strength, bearing in mind the admonition of Scripture: do not lighten the burden on yourself; but because with this firmness I wanted to prove the fervor of her heart and the desires of a faithful soul, singing: My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You (Ps. 62:2). It is difficult to observe moderation in everything. Meanwhile, quite rightly, in accordance with the opinion of philosophers, it is considered µ εσότης ὴ ἀρετὴ, ὐπερβολ ϓ χαχ And α 14; which we can express in one short saying: nothing in moderation. But having expressed such stubbornness in her disdain for food, she was meek in grief and could not bear the death of her relatives, especially children, without contrition. The death of her husband and children was always on her heart. When she marked the face and belly, and tried to alleviate the mother’s grief with the seal of the cross, mental anguish overpowered her, and the mother’s feelings shook the believing mind: conquering in spirit, she bowed before the weakness of the body. Once, hiding her sadness, she controlled herself for a long time; but by doing this she caused anxiety to us and danger to herself. She found joy in remembering every minute: what a poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death (Rom. 7:24)? A prudent reader will say that instead of praise, I write reproaches to her. Witness Jesus, whom she served and whom I also want to serve, that I am not inventing anything in either respect; but as a Christian I tell the real truth about a Christian woman, i.e. I’m writing history, not a panegyric, I’m talking about its shortcomings and the virtues of others. I talk about shortcomings, both following my own way of thinking and the wishes of all the sisters and brothers who all loved her and all regret her loss. However, she finished her course, kept the faith, and, having now received the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:7-8), follows the Lamb wherever He goes (Apoc. 14:4). She is now satisfied because she was hungry, and sings in delight: as we heard, so we saw in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God (Ps. 47:9). O blessed change of fortune! She cried so that she could laugh forever; turned away from the dirty puddle to open the source - the Lord; dressed in sackcloth, so that now she could put on light clothes and say: he took off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness (Ps. 29:12). She ate ashes like bread, and dissolved her drink with weeping (Ps. 102:10), saying: My tears were bread to me day and night (Ps. 41:4); and now she eternally feeds on the bread of angels, and sings: taste and see how good the Lord is! (Ps. 33:9), and also: a good word poured out from my heart, I say: my song is about the King (Ps. 44:2). And she saw that the words of Isaiah were fulfilled on her, or rather, the words of the Lord through Isaiah: My servants will eat, but you will starve; My servants will drink, and you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, and you will be ashamed, My servants will sing with heartfelt joy, and you will scream with heartfelt sorrow and weep with contrition of spirit (Isa. 65:13–14). I said that she always ran away from the puddles to find the source of the Lord, to sing with delight: as a deer strives for streams of water, so my soul desires for You, O God! When I come and appear before the face of God (Ps. 42:2-3). I will make a passing remark about how she avoided the dirty puddles of heretics and considered them on an equal basis with the puddles of pagans. One old rogue, who considered himself a learned and knowledgeable man, began to ask her questions without my knowledge and say: what did the child sin that should fall into the hands of a demon? At what age will we be resurrected? If in the same way as we die, then after the resurrection nurses will be needed. If in another, there will be not a resurrection from the dead, but a transformation into other people. Will there be an equal difference between the sexes, male and female, or not? If so, then naturally there will be marriages, cohabitation, and the birth of children. If not, then with the destruction of the difference of sex, not the same bodies will be resurrected: for the earthly abode is burdensome for the mind of the many-minded (Wis. 9:15), but subtle, spiritual bodies, according to the word of the Apostle: a spiritual body is sown, a spiritual body is raised (1 Cor. 15:44). With all this he wanted to prove that rational creatures fell into bodies for certain offenses and ancient sins; Moreover, according to the difference and importance of sins, they are born in one state or another; and therefore, either they take advantage of their physical health, the wealth and nobility of their relatives, or, entering sick bodies and the houses of the poor, they are punished for previous crimes and are imprisoned, as in a prison, in real life and in bodies. When she listened to all this, she told me, naming the person who had spoken. The need fell upon me to resist the worthless viper and the deadly beast, which the Psalmist recalls, saying: do not deliver to the beasts the soul that confesses to You (Ps. 73:19) and tame, O Lord, the beast in the reeds (Ps. 67:31), who eat untruth, speak lies against the Lord and lift up their heads high. I became friends with this man, and, since he was trying to be cunning, I stopped the flow of his speech with a short question: does he believe in the future resurrection of the dead or not? When he answered that he believed, I added: will the same bodies be resurrected or different ones? When he answered - the same, I asked: the same sex or another? When he did not answer the last question, but like a snake avoiding a blow, turned his head first in one direction or the other, I said: since you are silent, I will answer myself for you and sum up the results. If a woman is not resurrected as a woman, and a man as a man, then there will be no resurrection of the dead, because the sexes are distinguished by their members, and the body is made up of members. If there are no sexes and members, what kind of resurrection will there be, which is inconceivable without sexes and members? Further, if there is no resurrection of bodies, there will also be no resurrection of the dead. As for your objection regarding marriages: if the members are the same, then marriages must be concluded - it is decided by the words of the Savior: you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God; for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but remain as the angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:29–30). The words “neither marry nor are given in marriage” prove the difference between the sexes. No one will say about a stone and a log: they neither marry nor are given in marriage, because it is not in their nature to marry; but this can be said about those who can marry, but do not marry by the grace of Christ and for the sake of virtue. But you will object: how will we be like the angels, when there are no men and women among the angels? Listen briefly: The Lord promises us not the nature of angels, but their way of life and bliss. In this sense, John the Baptist was also called an angel even before he was beheaded (Luke 7:27); In this sense, all the saints and virgins of God still lead an angelic life in this century. For when it is said: you will be like the angels, similarity is promised, and not a change in nature. At the same time, tell me, how do you explain the fact that Thomas touched the risen Lord with his hands and saw His side pierced by a spear (John 20)? How did Peter see the Lord standing on the shore and eating part of the fried fish and honeycomb (Luke 24)? The one who stood had, without a doubt, legs. Anyone who showed a wounded side certainly had a stomach and chest, without which there would be no sides, which are connected to the stomach and chest. Who spoke, spoke with the help of the tongue, palate and teeth. Like a bow on the strings, the tongue hits the teeth and produces an articulate sound. The one whose hands were tangible already had shoulders. So, if it is said that He had all members, then it was necessary to have a body in its entirety, as it is composed of members, and certainly not female, but male, i.e. the same gender in which He died. You will object: therefore, after the resurrection we will also eat? Then, how did He enter through a closed door, when this is contrary to the nature of rough and hard bodies? Listen: do not blame faith in the resurrection because of food. And He commanded that the resurrected daughter of the arch-synagogue be given food (Mark 5:43); and about Lazarus, who was in the tomb for four days, the Scripture says that he reclined with Him at supper (John 12:2): this is so that their resurrection does not seem like a dream. If He passed through locked doors, and on the basis of this you are trying to prove that His body was spiritual and airy: then it will be possible to conclude with equal probability that He had a spiritual body before, because walking on the sea is contrary to the nature of heavy bodies. Let one have to come to the conviction that the Apostle Peter also had a spiritual body, because he too walked on the waters with a timid step; although in those cases when something happens contrary to the laws of nature, it is mainly the power and strength of God that is expressed. And that it is precisely in the multitude of miracles that it is not the change of nature that is revealed, but the omnipotence of God, pay attention to the following: the one who walked by faith began to drown through unbelief; he was saved only by the hand of the Lord, who said: you of little faith! Why did you doubt (Matthew 14:31)? I am also amazed at the shamelessness with which you listen to the words of the Lord: put your finger here and look at my hands; give me your hand and place it in my ribs; and do not be an unbeliever, but a believer (John 20:27). And in another place: look at My hands and at My feet; it is I Myself; touch me and look at me; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. And having said this, he showed them his hands and feet (Luke 24:39–40). You hear about bones, about flesh, legs and arms, and you invent Stoic balls and all sorts of airy nonsense. Next you ask: why should a child who has not sinned fall into the hands of a demon; or, at what age will we be resurrected, dying at different ages? Listen, albeit reluctantly: the fate of God is a great abyss (Ps. 36:7). And again: oh, the abyss of wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who was His counselor (Rom. 11:33–34)? Likewise, the difference in age does not change the essence of the body. Our bodies change daily, and sometimes grow, sometimes decrease; Is it really possible, therefore, that there will be as many of us as there are daily changes? Was I really one when I was ten years old, another when I was forty, and another when my whole head became gray? So, in accordance with the tradition of the churches and the Apostle Paul, we should answer that we have to be resurrected into a perfect man and, to the extent of the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13): at this age, they think, Adam was buried; at that age, as we read, the Lord the Savior was resurrected; Many other things that I brought from both testaments to the defeat of the heretics serve to confirm the same. From then on, they began to abhor this man and everyone who shared his teaching to such an extent that they openly declared them enemies of the Lord. I did not say all this with the goal of briefly refuting a heresy, the answer to which requires many books; but my goal is to show the faith of a woman - a woman who decided to be better exposed to the constant enmity of people than to offend God with harmful friendship. So, I'll continue what I started. Nothing was more receptive to the teachings of her mind. Inert to speak, she was quick to hear (James 1:19), remembering the well-known commandment: listen and listen, O Israel (Deut. 27:9). She knew the scriptures by heart. Although she loved history and called it the foundation of truth, she understood it more in a spiritual sense, and in this she considered the top of her education. Finally, she invited me to, using my explanations, re-read the Old and New Testaments with her daughter. Out of modesty, I refused; but yielding to her insistence and constant requests, I had to agree, meaning that I myself would learn the same thing that I wanted to teach - to learn not from myself, i.e. not from the pre-occupied, which was the worst kind of teaching, but from the most famous fathers of the church. In those cases where I hesitated and openly confessed my ignorance, she in no way wanted to leave me alone; but constant questions forced me to indicate between many and different opinions the one that seemed more probable to me. I will also say something else that may seem incredible to envious people. That Jewish language, which I learned, in part, from a young age with great difficulty and then, and on which, so as not to forget, my thought tirelessly exercises, they decided to study and studied - she studied so that she sang psalms in Hebrew, and pronounced them without any shade of Latin accent. We see all this at the present time in her holy daughter, Eustochia (the latter was always so attached to her mother and was so obedient to her will that she never went to bed without her, never went out, never took food, so as not to have a single coin at her disposal; and she rejoiced when her mother distributed her father’s and mother’s fortune to the poor, and considered respect for her parent to be the greatest inheritance and wealth). I cannot pass in silence the delight with which she heard that her granddaughter Pavla, born of Leta and Toxocia and conceived by a vow to dedicate her to a virgin life in the future, was in swaddling clothes and with rattles, singing Hallelujah in a babbling tongue, and in broken speech half-pronounced the names of her grandmother and aunt. She wanted one thing, remembering her homeland: would she finally hear that her son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter had renounced the world and served Christ? Her wishes were partially fulfilled. For her granddaughter was preparing to become the bride of Christ; and the daughter-in-law, through faith and alms, imitated the deeds of her mother-in-law, and tried in Rome to lead the same life as the latter led in Jerusalem. But what's wrong with you, soul? Why are you afraid to move on to her death? The book is already becoming quite lengthy, and we are still afraid to move towards the end, as if if we were silent about it and extended our praises to it, death could be delayed! Until now we have sailed under happy winds, and the ship has quickly plowed the curly plains of the sea. Now speech has run over the rocks, mountains of waves are rising and inevitable shipwreck threatens us from all sides so that we are forced to cry out: Lord! save us, we are perishing! (Matthew 8:25 and Mark 4:39); and arise, why are you sleeping, O Lord (Ps. 43:24)? For who can talk about the death of Paula without tears? She fell into such a severe illness that she finally achieved what she wanted; but wanted to leave us and unite more closely with the Lord. During this illness, the ever-experienced affection for the mother of the daughter Eustochia was even more confirmed in the eyes of everyone. She herself sat by the bed, holding a fan, supporting her head, placing a pillow, rubbing her feet, warming her stomach with her hand, cooling the hot water, applying a napkin, warning the services of all the maids, and what the other managed to do, she considered lost from her next reward. With what prayers, with what crying and groaning did she run from her mother’s bed to the den of the Lord, so as not to lose her cohabitation, not to live in her absence - in order to be carried out on the same stretcher! But alas, mortal and corporeal human nature! If the faith of Christ had not exalted him to heaven, without the promise of the eternity of the soul, our bodily conditions would have been the same as those of beasts and cattle. The same is the end for the righteous and the wicked, the good and the evil, the pure and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not offer sacrifices. In this respect, the good and the sinner, the one who swears and the one who fears an oath, are equal. Both people and cattle alike turn to smoke and ashes. But why do I hesitate too much, and, trying to divert my grief, make it longer? The wisest of women felt the approach of death, and when the extremities of the body and members began to grow cold and only the flame of life trembled in the holy chest, she, as if passing on to her own and leaving strangers, whispered the famous verses: Lord! I have loved the abode of Your house and the place of the dwelling of Your glory (Ps. 25:8); and how desirable are Your dwellings, O Lord of hosts! My soul was weary, longing for the courts of the Lord (Ps. 84:2-3); and one more thing: I would rather be at the threshold of the house of God than to live in the tents of wickedness (Ibid., v. 11). And when I asked why she was silent, why she didn’t want to answer questions about whether she was grieving about anything: she answered in Greek that she was not sad at all, but looked at everything peacefully and calmly. After that, she fell silent, and closing her eyes, as if already dead, until the very end of her soul, she repeated the same verses, so quietly that when she spoke, we could barely hear; and, placing her finger on her lips, she drew the sign of the cross on her lips. Breathing stopped and she breathed her last; but the soul, flying away with delight, turned the very wheezing with which the life of mortals ends into the praise of the Lord. Present were the bishops of Jerusalem and other cities, and countless numbers of low-ranking elders and Levites. The entire monastery was filled with the faces of virgins and monks. Immediately, when she heard the call of the Bridegroom: get up, my beloved, my beautiful, come out! Winter has already passed; the rain has passed, stopped (Song. 2:10-11), - she answered with joy: flowers appeared on the ground; the time for singing has come (Ibid., v. 12); and but I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 26:13). After this, instead of crying, instead of weeping, as is the case among secular people, psalms thundered in different languages. The bishops carried her in their arms, bending their necks under the bier; other high priests carried lamps and candles in front, or directed the choirs of psalmists: it was placed in the middle of the church of the Cave of the Savior. Many people from Palestinian cities came to her burial. Not one of the monks hiding in the desert was detained by his cell. Everyone considered it sacrilege not to pay the last debt to such a woman. Widows and the poor showed the clothes they received from her, as they once did from Chamois (Acts 9:39). An innumerable multitude of poor people cried out that they had lost their mother and nurse in her person. And what is surprising is that the pallor did not change her appearance at all; but on the contrary, her face was filled with a certain dignity and importance to such an extent that she seemed not dead, but sleeping. The psalms were sung alternately in Greek, Latin and Syriac; not only for three days, until she was buried under the church, near the Cave of the Lord, but for a whole week, everyone who came considered it their duty to honor her with their funeral prayers and their tears. The venerable virgin, her daughter Eustochia, like a weaned baby from her mother, could not tear herself away from her parent: she kissed her eyes, fell to her face, hugged her whole body, and wanted to be buried with her mother. Jesus is my witness that she did not leave her daughter a single coin, but only, as I said before, large debts; and what is even more difficult than debts - she left countless brothers and sisters, whom it was impossible to support, and it would be wicked to drive away. What could be more surprising than such virtue, when a woman of the noblest family and once the richest, squandered everything with such faith that she reached almost extreme poverty? True, others also squander wealth, put money accumulated by labor into the Corvan of God, and bring gifts hanging on gold chains. But no one gave more to the poor than she who left nothing for herself. Now she enjoys those riches and those blessings, which the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man (1 Cor 2:9). We mourn our own fate, and if we wanted to mourn even longer for the one who now reigns, we would rather seem envious of her glory. Be comforted, Eustochia: a great inheritance has been bequeathed to you. Your part is the Lord. And rejoice all the more that your mother received the crown after a long martyrdom. For not just the shedding of blood is considered confession, but the immaculate service of a pious soul is daily martyrdom. That crown is woven from roses and violets, this one from lilies. This is why it is written in the Song of Songs: my beloved is white and ruddy (Song. 5:10) - both in times of peace and in times of war he will give the same rewards to those who overcome. Your mother, I say, heard along with Abraham: get out of your land, from your kindred and from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you (Gen. 12:1), and the commandment of the Lord through Jeremiah: flee from the midst of Babylon, and save every man his soul (Jer. 48:6), - and until the day of her death she did not return to Chaldea; she did not regret either the cauldrons or the Egyptian meat broths (Ex. 16:3), but, accompanied by the faces of the virgins, she received the citizenship of the Savior, and ascending from little Bethlehem to the heavenly kingdoms, she said to the true Naomi: your people will be my people, and your God will be my God (Ruth. 1:16). I dictated this book to you in two nightly sittings, full of the same grief that you endure. No matter how much I began to draw in style, to write the promised letter, every time my fingers became numb, my hand was taken away, my feeling was exhausted. Hence this raw speech, which proves that the writer kept his promise without caring at all about the grace and beauty of expressions. Farewell, Paul, and help the decrepit old age of your admirer with your prayers! Your faith and your works unite you to Christ; being before His face, you will more easily ask for what you pray for. I erected a monument stronger than copper 15, which no amount of time can destroy. I carved an inscription on your coffin, which I present at the end of this book, so that every reader who reaches these lines will know that you were blessed, that you were buried in Bethlehem. Born of Scipio, descended from the parents of Paul, Descendant of the Gracchi, famous branch of Agamemnon Lies in this coffin. Her ancestors called her Pavloya. Mother of Eustochia, the most noble of the Roman senators, She preferred poverty to Christ and the village of Bethlehem. On the front side of the cave: Do you see a cramped coffin in a steep rock? This is the hotel of Pavla, reigning in heaven. Leaving his brother, relatives, Rome and homeland with wealth, offspring, She buried herself in the Bethlehem den. Here is Your manger, Christ, and here the wise men presented mysterious gifts to You, man and God. Saint and Blessed Paula reposed in peace on the seventh day of the Kalends of February, Saturday, at the third hour after sunset. She was buried on the fifth day of the same calendar, on the sixth consulate of Honorius Augustus and Aristenetus. She lived in holy vows in Rome for five years, in Bethlehem for twenty years. Her entire life was fifty-six years, eight months, twenty-one days. 89. Letter to Rinarius the Presbyter To receive a letter from you for the first time and not answer would be a sign of pride, and to answer would be a sign of recklessness. For you are asking about such subjects, about which it is sacrilege to both talk and listen. You say that Vigilantius, called by this name χατ ἀντίϕρασιν 16 (for more correctly he should have been called Dormitantius), has again opened his stinking mouth and spreads a foul stench against the remains of the holy martyrs, and calls us, who receive them, ash-heaps 17 and idolaters who adore the bones of the dead. He is an unfortunate man and worthy of tears in every way! He does not understand that, by saying this, he turns out to be a Samaritan and a Jew, who, following the letter that kills, and not the life-giving spirit, considered the bodies of the dead to be unclean, and looked at all the vessels that were in the same house with the deceased as defiled. We do not offend, not to mention the remains of martyrs, neither the sun and the moon, nor angels, nor archangels, nor cherubim, nor seraphim, nor any name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come (Eph. 1:21), - we do not honor the creation more than the Creator, blessed forever. But we give honor to the remains of the martyrs in order to thereby honor the One whose martyrs. We give honor to slaves in order to extend this honor to the Lord, who says: whoever receives you receives Me (Matthew 10:40). Are the remains of Peter and Paul really unclean? Will the body of Moses be unclean, which, according to the Hebrew original, was buried by the Lord himself (Deut. 34:6)? And every time we enter the basilicas of the apostles, prophets and all kinds of martyrs, every time we pay homage to the churches of idols? Are the candles lit in front of their coffins symbols of idolatry? I will say something more: let only this turn on the head of the culprit, and either finally cure the extravagant brain, or destroy it completely, so that such sacrilege does not seduce the souls of ordinary people... - Was the body of the Lord, laid in the coffin, unclean? And angels, dressed in light robes, stood guard over the dead and unclean corpse, in anticipation that, after a few centuries, Dormitantius would begin to rave and spew out the most vile consequences of drunkenness, and, together with the persecutor Julian, would either destroy or turn the basilicas of saints into churches? I am amazed how the holy bishop, in whose region he is said to be a presbyter, endures his fury, and does not crush a useless vessel with an apostolic rod, a rod of iron, and does not betray the flesh for destruction, so that the spirit may be saved (1 Cor. 5:5)! Let him remember the well-known saying: when you see a thief, you associate with him, and you associate with adulterers (Ps. 49:18). And in another place: from early morning I will destroy all the wicked of the earth, in order to uproot from the city of the Lord all those who practice iniquity (Ps. 101:8). And again: should I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and not be disgusted by those who rebel against You? I hate them with complete hatred (Ps. 139:21). If the remains of martyrs should not be venerated, then how do we read: dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (Ps. 116:6)? If the bones of the dead defile those who touch them, then how did the dead Elisha raise the dead, and the body, despised, according to Vigilantius, as unclean, give life (2 Kings 13:21)? After this, were all the camps of the army of Israel and the people of God unclean, because the Jews carried the bodies of Joseph and the patriarchs with them through the desert, and brought unclean dust to the holy land? And Joseph himself, who typified the Lord the Savior, was wicked, because with such pomp he carried his father’s bones to Hebron in order to join him with his grandfather and great-grandfather and add the dead to the dead? Yes, doctors should cut down this language, and treat this crazy head, so that those who cannot speak can finally learn to remain silent! I once saw this monster, and wanted to bind the madman with the evidence of the Scriptures, as if with Hippocratic shackles; but he dodged, eluded, fled, escaped, and, armed against us, screamed between the Adriatic Sea and the Cottian Alps. For whatever my well-wisher says, everything should be called a cry and a cry. Perhaps, in the depths of your soul, you condemn me for attacking someone who is absent. I will reveal to you my illness. I cannot listen with indifference to such sacrilege. I read about the spear of Phinehas (Num. 25), about the severity of Elijah (1 Kings 18), the jealousy of Simon the Canaanite, the severity of Peter, who killed Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), the firmness of Paul, who condemned the sorcerer Elimas, who opposed the ways of the Lord, to eternal blindness (Acts 13). Love for God is not rigidity. Therefore, the law says: if your brother, or your friend, or wife, even in your bosom, wants to seduce you, let your hand be against them, let you shed their blood and take away evil from Israel (Deut. 13 and 17). I repeat once again: are the remains of the martyrs unclean? Why did the apostles allow Stephen’s unclean body to be buried with such honor and to create great lamentation over it, so that their lament would turn to our joy? You also say that he abhors vigils. And this time he refutes the name given to him; Vigilantius wants to sleep, and does not listen to the words of the Savior: could you not have stayed awake with Me for one hour? watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:40–41). And in another place the prophet sings: at midnight I rose to praise You for Your righteous judgments (Ps. 119:62). In the Gospel we read that the Lord also spent nights without sleep (Matthew 14:23 et seq.); and the apostles, imprisoned in prison, spent the whole night in vigil, so that as a result of their psalmody, the earth shook, the prison guard believed, the rulers and citizens of the city were horrified (Acts 16). Paul says: be constant in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving (Col. 4:2); and in another place: often in vigils (2 Cor. 11:27). So, let Vigilantius sleep and wait in his sleep for destruction along with the Egyptians from the hand that destroys Egypt (Ex. 12). We will speak with David: He who guards Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Ps. 121:4); May the Holy One not come down to us and the air, which is translated as “cheerful” (Dan. 4:10). And if someday, due to our sins, he falls asleep, we will say to Him: Arise, you sleep, Lord! (Ps. 44:24) and let us awaken Him; and when the waves begin to drown our boat, we will exclaim: Lord! save us, we are perishing (Matthew 8:25 and Mark 4:39). I would dictate even more if the limited limits of writing did not require moderation in speech, and if you took the trouble to send us the actual excerpts from his books so that we could know what to respond to. And now we beat the air, and not so much declared his unbelief, clear to everyone, as about our own faith. However, if you want us to write a more extensive book against him, send us his tales and absurdities; then he will hear the sermon of John the Baptist: even the ax is already at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10). To the truly holy and blessed Pope Augustine, Jerome wishes health in Christ. Through Deacon Cyprian I received three letters at once, or rather three short books of your dignity, containing various - as you call - questions and, as I understand it, refutations of my writings. In response to them, it would be necessary to write a book, but if possible I will try not to go beyond the limits of a rather long letter and not to delay my brother, who is in a hurry. He asked me for letters three days before his departure, so I was forced to hastily sketch out these thoughts, whatever they were, and answer hastily, not with the deliberation of a person composing, but with the haste of a dictater, which for the most part serves not to benefit, but to the detriment of the letter, just as an attack by surprise leaves even the bravest warriors in confusion and they turn to flight before they have time to take up arms. However, our weapon is Christ; the Apostle Paul in his letter to Ephseus teaches: take on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the evil day (Eph. 6:13), and again: stand, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of preaching peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (ibid., vv. 14-17). Thus, having clothed himself with weapons, King David once went out to single combat, and, taking five smooth stones from a stream, drinking from the stream on the way 18, showed that in his disposition there was nothing rough and unclean from the troubles of this world, and therefore raised his head and killed the proud Goliath with more than his own sword, striking the blasphemer in the forehead, striking the part of the body in which he was struck leprosy and unlawfully snatched the priesthood of Uzziah (2 Chron. 26), while the saint boasts in the Lord, saying: Show us the light of Thy countenance, O Lord (Ps. 4:7). Therefore, I will say: my heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I ​​will sing and praise. Arise, psaltery and harp! I will get up early (Ps. 56:8-9, 107:2-3) so that what has been said can be fulfilled on me: open your mouth, and I will fill them (Ps. 80:11) and: The Lord will give the word: there will be a great multitude of heralds (Ps. 67:12). I have no doubt that you also want the same thing, so that truth will triumph in our dispute; for you do not seek your own glory, but Christ’s. And if you win, then I will triumph, because I am aware of my error; and vice versa, with my victory, you win, because it is not the children for the parents, but the parents for the children who collect estates. And in the book of Chronicles we read that the children of Israel went out to battle with the disposition of the peaceful, and among the weapons of bloodshed and the corpses of the slain, thinking not about their own victory, but about the victory of the world. So, I will answer all points and complex questions, if Christ wills, I will give brief solutions. I omit the benevolent greetings with which you stroke my head, I remain silent about the pleasantries with which you try to console me when I am reprimanded; I'll move on to the accusations themselves. You say that from a certain brother you received my book, which had no title, in which I listed both Greek and Latin church writers, and that when you asked him - in your words - “why is the title page not inscribed, or what is the name of this book,” he answered that it is called Epitaph; against this you argue that it could correctly bear such a name if you saw in it biographies or works only of those writers who have already died; but since it mentions the works of many who were alive at the time the book was compiled and are alive now, you wonder why I gave it such a title. I believe that your wisdom understands that from the work itself you could find out its title. You know that both the Greeks and the Latins, who wrote biographies of famous people, never gave such works the title “epitaph,” but called them “about famous people,” for example. generals, philosophers, orators, historians, poets, epics, tragedians, comedians; and writings about dead people were called epitaphs, as I once did after the Dormition of Presbyter Nepocyanus, of blessed memory. So, this book should be called: “about famous men” or, in fact, “about church writers,” although many inexperienced correctors present it under the title: “about authors.” In another place you ask why, in the interpretation of the letter to the Galatians, I said that Paul could not reproach in Peter what he himself did and accuse another of pretense, of which he himself was guilty - and you say that the apostolic reproof was not calculated, but true, and that I should not preach lies, but that everything written should have the meaning as it is written. “To this, first of all, I will answer that your wisdom should have remembered a short preface to my interpretations, which says on my behalf: “So, am I stupid or unreasonable for promising something that he could not do? Not at all, but rather unreasonable in that it seems to me that, feeling the weakness of my strength, being too cautious and fearful, I followed the comments of Origen. This man actually wrote five books on Paul’s letter to the Galatians, supplemented the tenth book of his Stromata with a brief explanation of this letter, and in addition compiled various treatises and extracts, which alone would be sufficient. I am not talking about my seer Didymus, the Laodicean, who recently left the church, the long-time heretic Alexander, Eusebius of Esizena and Theodore of Heraclea, who also left some small comments on this subject. If I had extracted even a little from them, it would have amounted to something not entirely worthy of contempt. So, I sincerely confess, I read all this, and having collected a lot in my mind, calling a scribe, I dictated to him, now my own, now someone else’s, not remembering either the order, or the words, and sometimes even thoughts. May the good word of others not perish from my lack of skill, by the mercy of the Lord, and may not those outside despise what is good for their own.” “Therefore, if in my explanation you found anything worthy of censure, then with your learning you should have asked: do the Greek interpreters have what I wrote, so that only if they did not write it, they would condemn my own opinion, especially when in the preface I openly admitted that I followed the comments of Origen and dictated now my own, now someone else’s, and at the end of that section, which you refute, wrote: “if anyone does not want to accept the explanation according to which it turns out that neither Peter sinned nor Paul boldly denounced the oldest apostle, he must explain how Paul reproaches in another what he himself allowed.” By this I showed that I do not unconditionally defend what I read from the Greek interpreters, but only state what I read, leaving it to the discretion of the reader to agree with it or not. You, in order not to do what I asked, found a new solution to the issue, proving that the pagans who believed in Christ are free from the yoke of the law, and those who believed among the Jews are subject to the law, so that according to the personal attitude of both, Paul, as a teacher of languages, justly reproached those who kept the law, and Peter received a fair reproach for the fact that he, the head of the circumcision, instilled in the pagans what only should have been observed. descended from the Jews. This idea - that Jewish believers are obliged to fulfill the law - if you like it, or even because you like it, you, as the most famous bishop in the whole world, can spread and attract all the bishops to agree with you; and I’m in a small cell with the monks, i.e. I do not dare to make decisions about lofty matters with my fellow sinners, but I can only once openly admit that I read the writings of those who went before me and in the commentaries, according to the custom of everyone, I present various interpretations, so that each of the many explanations follows what he wants. I think that you have read and approved of similar things both in secular literature and in spiritual books. And this interpretation, which was followed first of all by Origen in the tenth book of Stromatus, where he explains Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and then by other interpreters, is given primarily for the purpose of refuting the blasphemer Porphyry, who denounces Paul for his insolence, because he dared to reproach and blame Peter to his face and claim that he acted badly, that is, he was mistaken, whereas in this the error was the one who denounced the act of the other. What can we say about John, who once ruled the Church of Constantinople in the rank of high priest, who actually wrote a very large book on this chapter, in which he followed the opinion of Origen and the ancients? So, if you are convicting me of error, then I ask you to pay attention to the fact that I am in error with such great men; and having seen that I have many supporters of my error, you will have to present at least one like-minded person of your truth. – This is about an explanation of one chapter from the Epistle to the Galatians. But so that it does not seem that I am relying only on many witnesses to prove against you and that I am dodging the truth behind famous men and do not dare to compete with you, I will briefly present evidence from Scripture. The Acts of the Apostles says: there was a voice to Peter, saying: Arise, Peter, kill and eat (Acts 10:13), i.e. all four-legged animals and creatures that creep on the earth and the birds of the air. These words show that no person is unclean by nature, but that everyone is still called to the grace of Christ. To this Peter answered: No, Lord, I have never eaten anything bad or unclean. Then another time a voice came to him: what God has cleansed, do not consider unclean. Peter went to Caesarea and, going in to Cornelius, opened his mouth and said: “Truly I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears Him and does what is right is accepted by Him.” Finally, the Holy Spirit descended on all who heard the word. And the believers from the circumcision who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter said: Who can forbid those who, like us, have received the Holy Spirit, to be baptized with water? And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The Apostles and brothers who were in Judea heard that the pagans also accepted the word of God. And when Peter came to Jerusalem, the circumcision rebuked him, saying: You went to the uncircumcised people and ate with them. (Acts 10:14–18, 11:1–3). Having laid out to them all the circumstances of the matter, Peter finally concludes his speech with these words: So, if God gave them the same gift as he gave to us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, then who am I that I could hinder God? Having heard this, they calmed down and glorified God, saying: it is clear that God has given the Gentiles repentance that leads to life (vv. 17-18). Also, when, after a long time, Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch and, having gathered the church, told everything that God had done with them and how He had opened the door of faith to the pagans (Acts 14:27–28), then some who came from Judea taught the brothers: unless you are circumcised according to the rite of Moses, you cannot be saved. When there was a disagreement and considerable competition between Paul and Barnabas and them, they ordered Paul and Barnabas and some others, both those accused and those who accused them, to go to the Apostles and Elders in Jerusalem regarding this matter. And when they came to Jerusalem, some of the Pharisaic heresy rebelled and believed in Christ and said that the Gentiles should be circumcised and commanded to keep the law of Moses. After a long discussion about this issue, Peter said with his usual freedom of speech: Men and brethren! You know that from the first days God chose me from among us, so that from my mouth the pagans would hear the word of the Gospel and believe; and God, the Knower of the Heart, gave them testimony, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he has given us; and made no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Why are you now tempting God, wanting to place on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither our fathers nor we could bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we will be saved, just as they were. Then the whole meeting fell silent and the Apostle James and all the elders with him went over to his (Peter’s) opinion (chapter 15). This should not seem boring to the reader, but it is useful for both me and him, to prove that the Apostle Paul already knew before that Peter was the leader of the opinion that the law after the Gospel should not be observed. Finally, Peter had such authority that Paul wrote in his epistle: then, three years later, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days (Gal. 1:18). And below he also says: then, after fourteen years, I again went to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. I walked by revelation, and there I offered the gospel that I preached to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:1). Showing that without the approval of Peter and the other apostles who were with him, he could not be confident in his preaching of the Gospel. And then it immediately follows: and he suggested to those especially famous whether I am struggling or have labored in vain. Why especially, in private and not in public? Perhaps so that the Jewish believers, who thought that believing in Christ the Savior must also keep the law, would not experience a temptation to faith from this. Therefore, at the time when Peter came to Antioch (although the Acts of the Apostles does not say this, but one must believe the testimony of Paul), Paul - as he writes - personally opposed him, because he was subject to reproach: for before the arrival of some from James, he ate with the pagans, and when they came, he began to hide and withdraw, fearing the circumcision. The other Jews were hypocrites along with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw, he says, that they were not directly acting on the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in front of everyone: if you, being a Jew, live like a pagan, and not like a Jew, then why do you force the pagans to live like a Jew? So, there is no doubt that the Apostle Peter was the first to express the conviction of which he is now accused of betraying. And the reason for the betrayal is the fear of the Jews, because Scripture says that at first he ate with the pagans, and when some came from Jacob, he hid and withdrew, fearing the circumcision. And he was afraid of the Jews because he was their apostle, he was afraid that because of the pagans they would not depart from the faith of Christ and that he, an imitator of the Good Shepherd, would not lose the flock entrusted to him. So, I showed that Peter, although he rightly thought about abolishing the law of Moses, was forced out of fear to hypocritically observe it; Let us see if Paul himself, who denounced another, did something similar. In the same book we read: Paul went through Syria and Cilicia, establishing the churches (Acts 15:41). He reached Derbe and Lystra. And behold, there was a certain disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Jew and whose father was a Greek, and to whom the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium testified. Paul wanted to take him with him; and he took it and circumcised it for the sake of the Jews who were in those places; for everyone knew about his father that he was a Greek (Acts 16:1-3). O blessed Apostle Paul, you who denounced Peter for hypocrisy because he withdrew from the pagans out of fear for the sake of the Jews who came from James: why did you, contrary to your conviction, force Timothy, the son of a pagan and a former pagan, to be circumcised, since he, not being circumcised, was not a Jew? You will answer me that because of the Jews who were in those places. Having thus excused yourself for circumcising a disciple who came from the Gentiles, excuse your predecessor Peter for doing anything out of fear of the believing Jews. It is written again: Paul, having stayed quite a few days, took leave of the brethren and sailed to Syria, and with him Aquila and Priscilla, having shaved his head at Cenchrea, according to a vow (Acts 18:18). Let there, because of the fear of the Jews, he was forced to do the opposite of his desire: but why did he, according to a vow, grow his hair and then cut it off in Cenchrea, which was what the Nazirites usually did, devoting themselves to God - according to the Law of Moses (Num. 6:18)? But this is insignificant compared to the next one. Luke, the writer of sacred history, narrates: “When we came to Jerusalem, the brothers kindly received us, and the next day Jacob and all the elders who were with him, approving his gospel, said to him 19: You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealots of the law. And they have heard about you that you teach all the Jews who live among the pagans to deviate from Moses, saying that they should not circumcise their children and should not act according to the customs. So what? The people will surely gather; for they will hear that you have come. Do what we tell you: we have four people who have a vow. Having taken them, purify yourself with them, and bear the cost of the sacrifice for them, so that they shave your head, and everyone will know that what they have heard about you is unjust, but that you yourself continue to keep the law. And we wrote about the pagans who believed, stipulating that they should not observe anything of the kind, but only keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. Then Paul, having taken those men and purified himself with them, entered the church the next day and declared the end of the days of purification, when an offering was to be made for each of them.” (Acts 21:17–26). Regarding this, I ask you again, Paul: why did you allow yourself to be persuaded to cut your hair, then performed purifications according to the rites of the Jews, why did you offer sacrifices and were sacrifices sacrificed for you according to the law? Of course, you will say: so that those who believed among the Jews would not be tempted. So you hypocritically presented yourself as a Jew in order to win the Jews, and Jacob and the other elders taught you this very hypocrisy. However, you could not hide, because, during the indignation, when they wanted to kill you, you were taken by the commander of a thousand and he was sent to Caesarea under vigilant military guard (Acts 23:23) so that the Jews would not kill you as a hypocrite and a lawbreaker; and from there, arriving in Rome, in the hotel that you hired for yourself, you preached Christ to both Jews and pagans, and your opinion was confirmed by the sword of Nero. I proved that because of the fear of the Jews, both Peter and Paul pretended to show that they kept the commandments of the law. With what conscience, with what audacity would Paul reproach another for what he himself did? I and even others before me have stated the reason, which they admitted, defending not an official lie, as you write, but showing honest foresight to show both the wisdom of the apostles and to curb the shamelessness of the blasphemer Porphyry, who says that Paul and Peter entered into a childish quarrel with each other and that Paul even hated the virtues of Peter and described with vanity what or he did didn’t do it, or if he did, he did it brazenly, reproaching another for what he himself did. They interpreted as best they could: how will you interpret this passage? Of course, rejecting the opinion of the ancients, you will say something better. You write to me in your letter: “I do not teach you how to understand what was said by the same apostle: to the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win the Jews (1 Cor. 9:20) and so on, which is said there in the sense of a false pretense. For a person caring for a sick person is like a sick person not if he imagines himself suffering from a fever, but if, in a feeling of compassion, he thinks about what kind of services he would want if he himself were sick. Of course, Paul was a Jew; Having become a Christian, he did not abandon the Jewish rites, which this people performed according to the law and at the legal time, as it should have been; and therefore, having already become an apostle of Christ, he began to preach the observance of these rites, so that he taught that they do not harm those who want to preserve them as they received from the fathers according to the law - they do not harm even after they turn to Christ, although they must already in these rites affirm the hope of salvation, for through the Lord Jesus came the very salvation that was signified by these rites. The meaning of your entire speech, which you stretched out in too long a debate, is this: Peter is not mistaken in that he recognized the need to observe the law among the Jewish believers, but he deviated from the straight path in that he forced the pagans to Judaize, and he forced it not by the authority of the teacher, but by the example of communication with the Jews. And Paul in his words did not express a contradiction to what he himself did, but reproached Peter for encouraging those who were from the pagans to Judaize. Thus, the essence of your question or opinion is that after the Gospel of Christ, believing Jews do well if they fulfill the requirements of the law, i.e. if they make the sacrifices that Paul made, if they circumcise their sons, if they keep the Sabbath, as Paul did in the person of Timothy and all the Jews. If this is so, then we fall into the heresy of Cerinthus and Ebion, who were only anathematized by the fathers because, believing in Christ, they mixed the rites of the law with the Gospel of Christ and professed the new in such a way that they did not abandon the ancient. What can we say about the Ebionites who pretend to be Christians? To this day, in all the synagogues of the east, there is a heresy among the Jews, which is called the heresy of the Minas, 20 and which the Pharisees condemn even now. In common parlance they are called Nazirites; they believe in Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, and say that He is the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again - in whom we also believe; but, wanting to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither Jews nor Christians. So, if you consider it necessary to heal our little wound, then I ask you to heal the wound of this opinion, a wound drilled, pierced by a sharp weapon, inflicted by a spear and, so to speak, by the weight of the phalarica 21; for to present different opinions of ancestors when explaining the Scriptures and to reintroduce the most impious heresy into the church are the same crimes. And if we are forced to accept the Jews with their legal rites and they will be allowed in the Church of Christ to observe what they did in the synagogues of Satan: then - I will say what I think - not they will become Christians, but they will make us Jews. Which Christian can listen favorably to what is contained in your letter: “Paul was a Jew, and having become a Christian, he did not abandon the Jewish rites, which this people performed according to the law and at the legal time, as it should have been; and therefore, having already become an apostle of Christ, he began to preach the fulfillment of these rites and taught that they are not harmful to those who want to preserve them as they received from the fathers according to the law.” Again, I beg you, listen to my sorrow with your characteristic peacefulness: Paul observed Jewish rites, already being an apostle of Christ, and you say that they are not harmful to those who wanted to observe them as they received from their fathers. On the contrary, I will speak and publicly proclaim, even if the whole world were against me, that Jewish rites are both harmful and deadly for Christians, and that anyone who observes them, whether from Jews or from pagans, is cast into the abyss of the devil. Because the end of the law is Christ, for the righteousness of everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4), i.e. Jew and Gentile, for the law will not be the end of righteousness for everyone who believes, if the Jew is excluded. In the Gospel we read: the law and the prophets until John the Baptist (Matthew 11:12) and in another place: and the Jews sought even more to kill Him because He not only violated the Sabbath, but also called God His Father, making Himself equal to God (John 5:18) and also: and from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:16–17). Instead of the transitory grace of the law, we received the everlasting grace of the Gospel, and instead of the shadows and types of the Old Testament, the truth was given through Jesus Christ. And Jeremiah prophesies on behalf of God: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not such a covenant as I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Jer. 31:31). Notice what God says - that He promises the new covenant of the Gospel not to the pagan people, who until that time had not received the covenant, but to the Jewish people, to whom he gave the law through Moses, so that they would not live in old age of writing, but in renewal of the spirit. And Paul, because of whose name this question is raised, often presents this kind of opinion (of which, for the sake of brevity, I will indicate a few): Behold, I, Paul, say to you: if you are circumcised, Christ will not profit you at all (Gal. 5:2) and also: you, who justify yourselves by the law, have remained without Christ, have fallen from grace (v. 4) and lower: if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not under the law (v. 18). By this, the apostle does not show by calculation, as our ancestors wanted, but truly, as you understand, that whoever is under the law does not have the Holy Spirit. And let's see what the legal commandments are, according to the teaching of the Lord: I gave them, He says, commandments that are not good and excuses in which they do not have to live. I say this not in order, like Manes and Marciopes, to destroy the law, which, according to the Apostle, we recognize as holy and spiritual, but because with the coming of faith and the fulfillment of times, God sent his Son, who was born of a woman, subject to the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive the adoption of children and live not under a guardian, but as adults and heirs of God (Gal. 4). Your letter goes on to say: “Therefore he (Paul) did not approve of Peter because he kept the traditions of his fathers; and if he wanted to do it, he did it neither deceitfully nor illegally.” Again I tell you: you are a bishop and teacher of the churches of Christ; to prove the truth of your convictions, allow some Jew, having become a Christian, circumcise the son born to him, keep the Sabbath, abstain from the dishes that God created for consumption with thanksgiving, and on the fourteenth day of the first month in the evening kill a lamb: allow this, and when you do this, or better not do it (because I know that you are a Christian and will not commit sacrilege), then willy-nilly, you will renounce your conviction and then you will learn in practice that it is more difficult to confirm your own than to refute someone else’s. And so that for some reason we do not disbelieve you or do not remember your words (for too long a speech is often incomprehensible and when it is not understood, they are less likely to refute it), you add and give the reservation that “Paul left behind what the Jews had that was bad.” What is this bad Jewish thing that Paul left behind? There is no doubt that they did not understand the righteousness of God and were trying to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:3); “then the fact that after the suffering and resurrection of Christ, when the mystery of grace was given and revealed according to the order of Melchizedek, they considered it necessary to observe the ancient rites and observe not according to formal custom, but out of necessity of these rites for salvation, which, however, if they had never been necessary, then in vain and in vain the Maccabees would have become martyrs for them”; - finally, “that the Christian preachers of grace were persecuted by the Jews as enemies of the law. He considers these and similar errors and vices, as he says, to be loss and rubbish, in order to gain Christ” (Phil. 3:8). We learned from you that Paul left behind what was bad among the Jews; Now we learn from your teaching what he retained from their good customs. (You are talking about “the prescriptions of the law, which they fulfill according to paternal custom, since they were fulfilled by Paul himself without any need for them for salvation”). I don’t quite understand what you want to say with the words: “without any necessity for salvation”; because if they do not bring salvation, then why are they observed? and if they must be observed, then without a doubt they bring salvation, especially those who make martyrs of those who observe them, since they would not be observed if they did not provide salvation. They are not indifferent between good and evil, as philosophers argue. Abstinence is good, luxury is evil. It makes no difference between one and the other - walking around, producing stomach poisoning, throwing out head waste with your nose, spitting. This is neither good nor evil, because whether you do it or don’t do it, you will be neither right nor wrong. And observance of the rites of the law cannot be indifferent, but is either a good or not a good deed. You say it is good; I affirm that there is evil and evil for those who believe, not only from the pagans, but also from the Jewish people. In this place, if I am not mistaken, you, avoiding one thing, confuse another: fearing the blasphemer Porphyry, you stumble upon the nets of Ebion, proving that the Jewish believers must keep the law. And since you understand the danger of what you are saying, you try to limit your thought with unnecessary words: “without any necessity for salvation: not as the Jews demand their fulfillment, or through false pretense, for which Paul reproached Peter.” So, Peter feignedly kept the law, and that one who reproached Peter boldly fulfilled the prescriptions of the law, since further in your letter it says: “for if Paul performed these rites because he presented himself as a Jew in order to win the Jews, then why did he not offer sacrifices with the pagans, since he was also a stranger to the law to those who were strangers to the law, in order to win them also (1 Cor. 9:21)? Why, if not because he did the first as a Jew by nature and said all the last not in the sense that he was pretending to be something he was not, but in the fact that he recognized the need to treat them so condescendingly, as if he himself suffered from the same delusion - i.e. not with the cunning of a pretender, but with the love of a sympathizer.” “You defend Paul well, that he did not pretend to be in the error of the Jews; but in this case he will indeed be mistaken. He did not want to imitate Peter's pretense of pretending to be something he was not, but he said with complete freedom that he was a Jew. The apostle's new condescension: wanting to make the Jews Christians, he himself became a Jew: for he could not otherwise lead the voluptuous to abstinence than by proving that he himself was voluptuous and, in a feeling of compassion, help the unfortunate otherwise than by feeling himself unhappy. Truly unfortunate and worthy of compassionate pity are those who, in the heat of the dispute and out of their love for the abolished law, made the Apostle of Christ a Jew. And the slight difference between my opinion and yours, in which I say that both Peter and Paul pretended to keep the precepts of the law out of fear of the faithful Jews, and you assert that they did this out of mercy, not out of deceitful cunning, but out of compassionate love, is a small difference, if only it is certain that out of fear or out of mercy they pretended to be what they were not. And the evidence that you use against me - that he should have been a pagan to the pagans if he became a Jew to the Jews - serves more in my favor; for just as he was not in essence a Jew, so he was not in essence a pagan, and just as he was not in reality a pagan, so he was not really a Jew. And he imitates the pagans in that in the faith of Christ he again accepts uncircumcision and indifferently allows him to eat foods that the Jews forbid, but not to worship idols, as you think. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has power (Gal. 5:6, 6:15), but keeping the commandments of God. I ask you and I beg you again and again: forgive me for the contradiction and blame yourself for the fact that I went beyond my boundaries: you forced me to answer and, like Stesichorus, you took away my eyes. Do not consider me a teacher of lies: I follow Christ, Who said: I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6), and it cannot be that I, a lover of truth, should bow to lies. Do not stir up against me the crowd of ignoramuses, who reveres you as a bishop and, out of respect for the sacred rank, is in awe of your preaching in church, but has little respect for me, in my advanced years and almost an old man living in the solitude of a monastery and village. Look for yourself someone to teach or reprove, because the sound of your voice barely reaches us, separated from you by such a space of sea and land, and if you ever write a letter, then Italy and Rome will receive it before it is delivered to me, to whom it should be sent. And why in other letters you ask: why in my first translation of the canonical books there are asterisks and marks with dashes, while later I published another translation without these signs: then I, with your permission, would tell you that it seems to me that you do not understand what you asked me about. The first translation is a translation of the Seventy Interpreters, and wherever there are dashes, the places where the Seventy said more than what is in the Hebrew are indicated, and where there are asterisks, Origen added them from the edition of Theodotion. There I translated the Greek, here I explained what I understood from the Hebrew itself, sometimes preserving more the truth of the thoughts than the arrangement of the words. And I am surprised how you read the books of the Seventy Interpreters not in their pure form, as they were published by them, but corrected by Origen or spoiled with dashes and asterisks; and do not follow the translation of a Christian, especially when he transferred what was added to it from the publication of a Jew and blasphemer after the suffering of Christ. Do you want to be a true admirer of the Seventy Interpreters? – Do not read what is marked with asterisks, even erase it from the lists to prove your love for the ancient. And if you do this, you will cause all the church libraries to be spoiled, because there is hardly one or two books that do not have these inserts. Further you say that after the ancients I should not have engaged in translations and for this you use a new syllogism: “what was translated by the Seventy was either incomprehensible or intelligible; if it is not clear, then you need to assume that you could have made a mistake in the translation; If it’s clear, then obviously they couldn’t have made a mistake in the translation.” I answer you in your own words. All the ancient teachers who taught us about the Lord and who explained the holy. The Scripture was explained either incomprehensible or understandable. If it is not understandable, then how did you dare to talk about something that they could not explain? If understandable, then it is unnecessary on your part to want to talk about what could not be hidden from them - especially regarding the explanation of the psalms, which the Greeks explained in many works: firstly, Origen, secondly, Eusebius of Caesarea, thirdly, Theodore of Irakli, fourthly, Asterius of Scythopolis, fifthly, Apollinaris of Laodicea, sixth, Didymus of Alexandria. Small works are known, not some psalms and other persons. And the Latins have bishops: Hilary of Pictavia and Eusebius of Vercelius translated Origen and Eusebius, of whom our Ambrose followed the first in some places. Let your wisdom answer me - why, after so many great and so many interpreters, do you think differently in explaining the psalms? For if the psalms are incomprehensible, then one must assume that you were mistaken in explaining them, and if they are understandable, then, it seems, they could have been mistaken in explaining them; and therefore, in both cases, your explanation will be unnecessary, and according to this law, after the first, no one will dare to speak, and, as one soon anticipated, another will not be allowed to write through him. And your condescension should all the more allow others what you allow yourself. For I, translating my language from Greek into Latin in an uncorrected form for the people, cared not so much about changing the previous translations as about restoring those testimonies that were either omitted or distorted by the Jews, so that ours would know what was contained in the Hebrew original. Whoever does not want to read, no one forces him: let him drink old wine with pleasure and despise my novelties, which are (however) in the interpretation of the ancients, and are intended to make passages that are incomprehensible in Hebrew more clear from my translation. And what method should be followed when translating St. The Scriptures - this is shown by the book I wrote “On the Best Method of Translation” 22 and all the short prefaces to St. books that precede my publication, and I ask the prudent reader to turn to them. And if, as you say, you approve of me in correcting the New Testament and state the reason why you approve: then since many who know the Greek language could judge my work, then you had to believe that in the Old Testament I have the same uncorruption, that I did not invent my own, but translated the divine (Scripture) as I found it among the Jews. If you doubt anything, ask the Jews. But you may say: what if the Jews either do not want to answer, or want to tell a lie? - Will the entire mass of Jews remain silent regarding my translation? And will there really not be a single one who knows the Hebrew language, or will everyone imitate those Jews of the African town who, according to you, all conspired to scold me? In your letter you weave this kind of fable: “one of our brother bishops, having installed your translation in the church under his jurisdiction, discovered that in the book of the prophet Jonah you stated something completely different from what was established in the mind and memory of everyone and preached in the traditions of so many centuries. Such confusion arose among the people, especially when the Greeks began to denounce the lie and shout against it, that the bishop (this was in the city) was forced to ask the Jews for a solution to the issue. But whether out of ignorance or malicious intent, they answered that in the Jewish codes it is the same as it was in the Greek and Latin. What's next? The bishop, after this great confusion, not wanting to be left without people, was forced to correct this place as false. That’s why it seems to me that sometimes you could be wrong about some things.” You say that I translated something badly in the book of the prophet Jonah and that because of the incorrectness of one word, during the unrest that arose among the people, the bishop almost lost his holy dignity; But what is it that I translated badly, you keep silent about this, depriving me of the opportunity to defend myself, so that with my answer I do not refute everything that you say. Perhaps now, as several years ago, it is about a pumpkin - that I incorrectly translated “ivy” instead of “pumpkin,” as Cornelius and Asinius Pollio 23 proved at that time. I answered this subject in great detail in my interpretation of the prophet Jonah. Now I find it sufficient to say only that in this place, where the Seventy Interpreters translated “pumpkin”, and Aquila with the others “ivy”, i.e. χισσόν, in Hebrew it is put ciceion, which the Syrians colloquially call ciceiam. This is a genus of shrub with wide leaves like grape leaves. When planted, this plant quickly develops into a sapling, standing only on its stump without any support from a solid trunk and hard branches, which both pumpkin and ivy do not have. If I, translating word for word, called this plant ciceion, then no one would understand; if it had been “pumpkin,” then I would have said something different from what is stated in the Hebrew; therefore, in agreement with other translators, I put “ivy”. And if your Jews, as you yourself assure, said with malice or ignorance that the same thing is in the Hebrew lists as in the Greek and Latin ones, then it is obvious that they either do not know the Hebrew letters, or they wanted to lie in order to laugh at the pumpkin-men. In conclusion of the letter, I ask you: do not force an old man, who lives in retirement and has long served his term, to fight and again be exposed to the storms of life. You, as a young man and placed at the high priestly heights, must teach the people and enrich the Roman roofs with the fruits of Africa, but for me it is enough to whisper to the listener and reader in a small corner of the monastery. To His Beatitude Pope Theophilus Jerome. Too late I sent your blessedness your book translated into Latin. Many things hindered me in this matter: - the sudden invasion of the Isaurians, the devastation of Phenicia and Galilee, the horror that struck Palestine and especially Jerusalem and the concern for building walls, not books, to this - a cruel winter, hunger, especially unbearable for me, who was entrusted with the care of many brothers. Amid these difficulties, the translation was carried out by force and, so to speak, by thieves' labors at night, and it was already written in rough form in the days of St. Pentecostal was rewritten in full and only had to re-read it when I was struck by a very serious illness and, already entering the threshold of death, was preserved by the mercy of the Lord and your prayers - perhaps in order to fulfill your order and translate the most eloquent book that you wove from the flowers of the Scriptures with the same beauty with which it was written by you, although the weakness of the body and the sadness of the spirit dulled the sharpness mind, and the smoothly flowing speech seemed to be blocked by some kind of dams. In your work, I respectfully recognized its benefit for all churches - so that the ignorant, enlightened by the testimony of the Scriptures, would learn with what reverence they should venerate the shrine and serve at the altar of Christ - they would learn that sacred vessels and holy coverings and other things belonging to the service of the Lord's passion are not something that does not have a sacred meaning, as empty and meaningless, but, by contact (consortio) with the body and blood of the Lord, it should be revered with the same greatness as His body and blood. So, accept your book or mine, or rather, ours. If you approve of me, then you will approve of yourself, because my mind worked for you, and I only wanted to balance the wealth of Greek with the poverty of the Latin language. I did not translate word for word, as eloquent translators do, and I did not add the money that you gave me in parts, but weighed it in equal amounts, so that there would be no damage in thoughts, even if something was missing in words. And I translated your letter into Latin and attached it at the beginning of this book so that everyone who reads it would know that I undertook this work, which exceeds my strength, not out of insolence or vanity, but according to the orders of your beatitude. Whether I achieved this - I let you judge. In any case, if you are dissatisfied with the shortcomings of the work, you will find my intention excusable. To the truly holy and blessed Pope Augustine, Jerome wishes health in Christ. Having carefully asked our brother Firm about your condition, I was pleased to hear that you are healthy; and since I won’t say I hoped, but sought to receive a letter from you, he said that he left Africa without your knowledge. So, embracing you with sincere love, I send you through him well-meaning greetings and ask you to forgive my conscience - that I could not refuse when you have long asked me to answer. It was not I who answered you, but the accusation that answered the accusation. And if there is guilt in the fact that I answered, then - I ask you to listen patiently - there is much more guilt in the fact that you called me to answer. But let there be no such bickering, let there be true brotherhood between us and then let us send each other letters of love, and not quarrels. The holy brothers who serve the Lord with me greet you greatly. I ask you to greet with my reverence the saints who bear with you the light yoke of Christ, and especially the holy and venerable Pope Alipius. May Christ our Almighty God keep you healthy and not forgetting me, Mr. Truly Holy and Most Blessed Pope. If you have read the book of explanations on Jonah, then I guess you will not raise the funny question about the pumpkin again. And if that friend who first attacked me with a sword is repelled by the style 25, then may your love and justice find the accuser guilty, and not the defendant. If you wish, let us strive in the field of the Scriptures, without offending each other. 93. Letter to mother and daughter living in Galia One brother from Galia told me that he has a sister, a virgin, and a mother, a widow, who in the same city live in distant houses and either out of hospitality, or to save their small funds, took in some clergy as their stewards, so that, having separated from one another, they lived with even greater dishonor with strangers. When I regretted this and expressed it much more in silence than in words, he said: I ask you, convict them with your letter and call for agreement, so that the mother forgives the daughter and the daughter forgives the mother. “It’s wonderful,” I tell him, “you entrust me with an assignment: so that I, a stranger, can reconcile those whom my son and brother could not reconcile.” It’s as if I were occupying a bishop’s see, and not weeping over past sins and not trying to avoid present ones, locked in a cell and away from the storms of life; and it is incongruous to hide with your body and wander around the world with your tongue. “You are too timid,” he told me; Where is the power with which you, ridiculing the whole world, in some ways resembled Lucilian? “This,” I say, “frightens me and does not allow me to open my lips: because after exposing the vices, I myself became vicious, and, according to the worn-out proverb in popular speech, when everyone scolds and disowns me, I think that I have neither ears nor sense of touch,” after the very walls began to give echoes of abuse against me and wine drinkers sing about me in songs (Ps. 68:13): I involuntarily learned to remain silent in the face of evil, considering it more fair to put a guard on my lips, and fence the doors of my lips, than to turn my heart to evil words (Ps. 141:3-4) and, denouncing vices, to fall into the vice of reproach. “When I said this, he objected: telling the truth does not mean slandering and private reproach is not an instruction for everyone, since either rarely or no one can be found who could be accused of such a crime. I ask you, do not allow me, exhausted on such a long journey, to come to you in vain: God sees that after visiting holy places, a particularly important purpose of my journey was to help my sister and mother with your letter. “Then I told him: okay, I’ll do what you want, because the letter will go overseas and the word, applied to a particular case, will find few whom it can offend.” I ask you to keep this letter secret. And when you bring it from me instead of the road, I will be glad if they listen to my voice, and if they ignore it, as I more likely assume, then I have lost my words, and you have lost the long journey. Mother and daughter! First of all, I want to inform you that I am writing not because I suspect anything unworthy about you, but that I ask for your reconciliation so that others do not suspect. Otherwise (which will not happen), if I thought that you were entangled in sinful bonds, I would never have written: I would then know that I was telling a fairy tale to the deaf. Then I ask you that if I write something too caustic, then consider it a consequence not so much of my severity as of my chagrin. Decayed parts of the body are cured by cutting and cauterizing, poisons are driven out by snake antidote; a small disease is driven away by great suffering. Finally, I will also say that even if this vice of yours has no wound, then rumor spreads bad rumors. Mother and daughter are names of love, words of tender relationships, bonds of nature, the second union after God. There is no praise in loving one another; but there is a crime in the fact that you hate each other. The Lord Jesus obeyed his parents (Lk. 2), he honored the mother, for whom he himself was the father, he honored the educator, whom he himself nourished: He remembered that He was carried by the womb of one and the hands of another. Therefore, while hanging on the cross, He entrusts the disciple with a mother (John 19), whom he never left until the cross. And you, daughter (I have already stopped addressing my mother, who may be excused by summer, weakness, and love of solitude) - you, I say, daughter, do you consider the house of one whose womb was not cramped for you to be cramped for you? For ten months you lived prisoner in the womb, and now you can’t spend even one day in the same room with your mother? Or you cannot bear her gaze and avoid having a witness in the house, one who very easily understands all your dispositions, i.e. in the one who gave birth, raised and raised you to this age? If you are a virgin, then why are you afraid of vigilant surveillance? If you fell, then why don’t you openly marry? Correcting a bad beginning with at least this means is a life-saver after a shipwreck. And what I mean by this is not that I deny repentance after sin, so that what you started badly can continue badly, but that I do not hope for the severance of this connection. Otherwise, if after the fall you move to your mother, then with her you can more comfortably mourn what you lost through her absence. And if you are still innocent and have not lost (your virginity), then keep it so as not to lose it. What need do you have to live in a house where you have to either die or win every day? Which mortal sleeps carefree next to an echidna, which, if it does not amaze, at least inspires fear? It is safer not to be able to die than not to die near danger. In the first case, calmness, in the second - the ability to act; there we enjoy ourselves in peace, here we avoid danger. But perhaps you will say to this: my mother is not of good morals, she desires worldly things, she loves wealth, she does not fast, she rubs white on her face, she wants to walk around dressed up, she is harming my vow; I can't live with this. First of all, if she is as you say, then the greater the reward you will receive if you do not leave her like that. She carried you in her womb for a long time, raised you for a long time, and endured her children’s whims with tender love. She washed dirty linen and was often stained with sewage herself, sat with you during illness and, having overcome her disgust because of you, must overcome yours too. She raised you from such years; taught me to love Christ. It should not be unpleasant for you to cohabit with the one who dedicated you to your groom as a virgin. If you cannot bear this and avoid her pleasures, if (as people usually say) your mother is a secular woman, then you have other girls, you have the holy face of chastity. Why, leaving your mother, do you choose someone who, perhaps, also left his sister and mother? That one is unbearable, this one is pleasant; This one is brisk, this one is affectionate. Tell me: did you go from your mother to this man or did you find him later? If you went to him, then obviously you left your mother. If you found it later, this is how you show what you couldn’t find in your mother’s house. My grief is heavy and my own weapon is directed against me. “He who walks simply, says the Wise One, walks boldly” (Prov. 10:9). I would remain silent if my conscience pricked me, if in others I exposed my own crime and through the log of my own eye I saw the mote in the eye of another. And now, since I, living at a distance among the brothers and enjoying their community honestly, rarely see anyone in front of witnesses and even show myself: it is a great shame for you not to imitate the modesty of the one whose example you apparently follow. If you say to this: my conscience is enough for me; God is my judge - the witness of my conscience; I do not care about what people say: - but listen to what the apostle writes: be careful about what is good not only before God, but also before all men (Rom. 12:17). If someone blames you for being a Christian, for being a virgin, then do not worry that you left your mother to live in a monastery among virgins: such reproach is praise for you. When in the young woman of God they blame not voluptuousness, but severity; then such cruelty is love. For you prefer Him to your mother, Whom you are commanded to honor even your soul, and if your mother herself preferred Him, she would see in you both a daughter and a sister. So, is it criminal to have fellowship with a holy person? You are dragging me by the neck to the court so that I either say what I don’t want or incur the hatred of many. A holy man never separates his daughter from his mother: he takes both to himself, and honors both. No matter how holy a daughter may be, a widowed mother is an expression of chastity. If this one of yours - I don’t know who - is the same age as you, you should honor her as your mother; if he is older than you, he must love you like a daughter and obey the leadership of his parent. It does not honor both of you that he loves you more than his mother: it may seem that in you he prefers not affection, but only age. And I could say this if you did not have a monk brother, if you did not have a home guard. And now, oh misfortune! Why does a stranger settle between mother and brother and between a widow mother and a monk brother? It would be good if you knew yourself as both a daughter and a sister; and if you cannot be both, then if you reject your mother as a harsh woman, let at least your brother be pleasant to you; and if your brother is cruel, let her who gave birth to you be gentle for you. Why are you turning pale? What are you worried about? Why are you blushing and trembling lips betraying your heart’s anxiety? Nothing exceeds love for mother and brother - except love for husband. In addition, I heard that you and your relatives and acquaintances and people of this kind travel to suburban villages and beautiful villages. I have no doubt that in pleasures of a new kind you will be accompanied by a relative or sister; I also do not suspect that you seek the company of men, even if they are close acquaintances or relatives of yours. I ask you, girl, tell me: do you walk alone, accompanied by relatives, or with your lover? No matter how shameless you are, you do not dare to expose him in front of the eyes of secular people, because if you do this, then the whole society will sing about you and him, everyone will point fingers at you, and even you, your very sister, relative or acquaintance, those who, to please you, call him a saint and a monk in front of you, turning slightly away from you, will laugh at him as your illegitimate spouse. If you walk alone (which is what I more or less assume), then, of course, you - a girl in a black dress - will walk among servile boys, among women who are married or about to get married, among lively girls and curled and invited young men. Someone with a small beard will give you a hand, support you when you are tired, and shake your fingers, or be seduced or seduced. You will happen to dine among husbands and married women: you will see other people's kisses, delicious dishes, and not without temptation you will be surprised by silk and gilded dresses. And at the dinner itself, in order for you to eat meat, you will be forced to do so, as if against your will; to drink wine, they will praise God’s creation; If you wash yourself in a bathhouse, you will be accused of being unclean; and when, after excuses, you do something of what you are urged to do, then everyone will praise you as pure, innocent, a woman of self-control and truly noble. Meanwhile, at the table some singer will sing and, among the songs pouring out in sweet harmony, not daring to look at other people’s wives, he will too often glance at you, who have no watchman. Minami, he will talk to you and express what he is afraid to say in words with passionate movements. Among such voluptuous networks, lust enslaves iron souls; and she is especially hungry for girls, considering everything she does not know very pleasant. Pagan tales tell that, listening to the song of the sirens, shipbuilders encounter sharp pitfalls, and trees, animals and hard flints are softened by the lyre of Orpheus. It is difficult to maintain chastity amid feasts. He who cares about appearance shows a dirty soul. As boys at school, we read and caught rumors floating on the street that someone, barely having only bones, was burned with criminal love and died before leaving his illness behind. How are you, a healthy, tender, plump, blooming, ardent girl, how will you behave among meat dishes, wines and baths in the company of married people and young men? Even if you do not allow yourself something that people ask you for, you will still attribute it to your beauty if they ask you. A voluptuously inclined mind indulges in dishonorable things with great enthusiasm and suspects more pleasure in the illicit. The dress itself is simple and dark - it is a sign of modesty - if there are no folds on it, if it does not drag on the ground to appear taller to you, if it is not deliberately embroidered in order to show something, to hide the indecent and reveal the beautiful. And your black patent leather ankle boots, with their creaking sound, when you walk, call young men to you. The breasts are tightened with bandages and the waist is tightly compressed with a wriggling belt; hair falls either on the forehead or on the ears; sometimes the mantilla comes down to reveal white shoulders, and the coquette, as if not wanting to be seen, hastily closes what she opened with intention; and in front of strangers, covering her face as if out of modesty, she, following the techniques of public women, reveals only what might be more pleasing in open form. You will say: how do you know me and how do you see me from such a distance? “Your brother’s tears and heavy groans every minute told me this.” And oh, if he lied and spoke more with fear of this than with confidence in this. But believe me: no one cries when they tell a lie. He complains that he prefers a young man - although not with curls, not in silk clothes, but rough and in rags, who himself ties the bags, works on the weaving loom, distributes salaries, manages the servants, buys everything he needs at the market. He, the manager and master who performs the duties of workers, is bitten by all the servants and no matter what the mistress gives him, they shout that he stole. The dissatisfied people are these servants, and there is always very little for them, no matter how much you give. They talk not about how much, but about how much is given, and they take out their dissatisfaction as much as possible with curses. One calls him a parasite, another a deceiver, one seeking an inheritance, another with some new nickname. They say that during illness he sits by your bedside, receives midwives, carries out a bedpan, warms the sheets, makes bandages. People very easily believe bad things, and what is invented at home very soon spreads throughout society. And don’t be surprised if maids and slaves say this about you when your mother and brother complain about the same thing. Do what I urge, I beg you to do: make peace first of all with your mother, and then, if this is not possible, then at least with your brother. Or, if you do not want to hostilely separate these so dear names, then separate them from the one whom you, as they say, preferred to your mother and brother. And if you can’t do this, if you can’t leave your friend, then almost deserve your blood and establish a more honest relationship with your friend. Let you have separate houses and a special table, so that evil people do not say that, living under the same roof, you also have a common bed. For your needs, you can have any assistant in it, and at least partially not have general disgrace. One must be afraid of that stain, which, according to Jeremiah, cannot be washed off with any saltpeter, or with any composition of clothiers. When you want him to see you and visit you, invite witnesses, friends, children, servants. A clear conscience is not afraid of anyone's eyes. Let him enter without fear and let him go out without fear. Modest eyes, quiet speech and the position of the whole body express either concern or confidence in safety. I ask you: open your ears and listen to what the whole city is screaming. You have already lost your names and received nicknames from each other: you are called his, and he is yours. Brother and mother hear this, and are ready, begging you to divide yourself between them and turn the dishonor that falls on you alone because of your connection to common honor. You be with your mother, and let him be with his brother. You can love your brother's friend more boldly; it will be more honest for a mother to love her son's friend than her daughter. If you do not want to fulfill this, if you wrinkle your brow and disregard my convictions, then this letter will directly tell you: why do you own someone else’s slave? Why do you make the servant of God your servant? Look at the people, look at everyone's face. He reads in church - everyone is looking at you - no other than because you boast of your debauchery almost as if you were a conjugal right. You call impudence freedom; You had the forehead of a harlot, you threw away shame (Jer. 3:3). You again call me angry, suspicious and a gossip. Am I suspicious, am I angry, who at the beginning of the letter said in advance that I wrote because I did not suspect? Isn’t it you who is dissolute, depraved, criminal—isn’t it you who, being twenty-five years old, entangled with your arms like a net a young man who had not yet grown a beard—a truly excellent teacher who could hold you back and instill fear in you with his severity! And although a criminal relationship is not guaranteed at any age, but with gray hair it is safe at least from open shame: the time will come (it will come accidentally) when your handsome man - since women soon grow old, especially those who are near men - will find either a richer or younger woman. Then you will repent of your behavior and regret your stubbornness - when you lose both pleasure and good fame, when the bad relationship gets a good break. Or are you safe from this and, having strengthened the connection for such a long time, are not afraid of a break? And you, mother, if you are not afraid of criticism for your old age, do not take revenge on your daughter with sin. It’s better for her to move away from you, rather than for you to move away from her. You have a son and a daughter and a son-in-law, or better yet, your daughter’s partner. Why are you looking for someone else's company and fanning an already extinguished fire? It is more honorable for you to at least endure your daughter’s guilt than to seek an opportunity to be guilty yourself. Let your son-monk be with you to protect your piety and widowhood. Why are you looking for a stranger, especially in a house that could not accept a son and daughter? You are already at such an age that you could have grandchildren from your daughter. Accept both of them. Let the one who left you alone return with a man. A man, I say, and not with a husband, and let no one be offended: I wanted to indicate the gender, and not the marital relationship. Or, if she is ashamed, refuses and considers the house in which she was born cramped, then you will move into her house; even though it was cramped, it could more comfortably accommodate a mother and brother than a stranger, with whom, living in the same house and in the same room, she probably could not remain clean. Let there be two women and two men in one house. And if that third ϒ ηροβόσχος 26 of yours does not want to live with you and raises quarrels and strife, then let there be two (men); and if there are two, then your brother or your son will give him both a sister and a mother. Let others call him stepfather and son-in-law, he will call him guardian and brother. Hastily, in a short sitting, I dictated this, wanting to satisfy the request of the person who demanded the letter and, as if doing an exercise on a school topic, because he came to me on the day on which he had to leave. At the same time, I wanted to show my critics that I too can say whatever comes to my mind. Therefore, I cited little from the Scriptures and did not pepper my speech with flowers, as I usually did in other books. I dictated hastily and with such speed by candlelight that my tongue forestalled the hands of the scribes, and with the speed of speech many signs and abbreviations of words were used. I expressed this so that whoever does not forgive the mind would at least forgive time. My son, your brother Ausonius, already at the very moment of departure, late giving me his visit and soon taking it away and at the same time saying hello and goodbye to me, declared that he would return with nothing if he did not bring you something from the trifles I hastily jotted down. Already with the received passport, a public horse was saddled, and a noble young man, dressed in a scarlet tunic, was wearing a belt, but he, having assigned a scribe, forced me to speak, so that what was quickly said would be grabbed by a quick hand and hasty speech would be caught by written signs. So, fulfilling the simple duty of politeness, I break the long silence not with the zeal of a writer, but with the thoughtlessness of a dictator. The letter is hasty, without order in thoughts, without sophistication and art in expressions - so that you find everything in it to be the work of a friend and nothing of the work of an orator. Consider it expressed on the move, given as parting words to the departing person. The Holy Scripture says: a story at the wrong time is the same as music in a time of sorrow (Sir. 22:6); Therefore, I, neglecting the beauties of rhetorical art and the decorations of childishly caressing speech, turn to the power of the Holy Scriptures, in which is found the true healing of wounds, in which are the sure remedies against sorrows. There the mother again acquires her only son on her deathbed, there it is said to the grief that has overtaken her: the maiden is not dead, but sleeps (Mark 5:39), there the four-day-old dead man comes out swaddled to the voice of the calling Lord (John 11). I heard that in a short time, almost in one burial, you buried two of your daughters, girls, and that sudden death stole from you your most chaste and most faithful wife, or, better, by the power of faith, your sister Favstina, in whom alone you found consolation after the loss of your children. It is similar to the fact that a shipwrecked person on the shore meets robbers and that, according to the sayings of the prophets, someone running away from a bear runs into a lion and stretching out his hand to the wall is wounded by a snake. I’m not talking about the subsequent damage to the economy; I am silent about the devastation of the entire province by the barbarian enemy and about the destruction of your own estates during the general devastation; I’m not talking about captured beasts of burden and cattle, or slaves captured and killed; - and from your only daughter, who became even more dear to you from such frequent losses and for whom you chose the noblest son-in-law - and from your only daughter you received more sorrow than joy. Here is a list of your trials, here is the struggle of your ancient enemy with Julian, the sufferer of Christ. These tests are great if you apply them to yourself; but if you apply them to the strongest warrior, then this is a game and a shadow of struggle. Blessed Job, after being tested by disasters, was left with the worst of his wives to teach him blasphemy; The best was taken from you, so that you would have no consolation in troubles. It is another thing to endure a hated wife and another to desire a beloved wife. He buried so many sons in one coffin - in the ruins of his house - and, tearing apart the vestments as an expression of parental love, prostrated himself to the ground, worshiped (the Lord) and said: naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I will return. The Lord gave, the Lord also took away; Blessed be the name of the Lord! ( Job 1:21 ). You, speaking very moderately, at the burial of your loved ones, walked behind the coffin, accompanied by many relatives and comforting friends. At the same time, he lost all his wealth, and when the messengers of disasters came one after another, he firmly endured the blows of each defeat, fulfilling what was said about the sage: “if the broken world is destroyed, he fearlessly falls under its ruins” (Horat. lib 3, ed 2). A large part of the estate has been left to you to tempt you as much as you can bear, because you have not yet reached the point where all the means of testing can be directed against you. The formerly rich ruler and even richer father suddenly became poor and naked. And since in everything that happened to him, he did not sin before God and did not say anything crazy, the Lord, rejoicing at the victory of His servant and considering his patience a triumph for Himself, said to the devil: have you paid your attention to My servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth: a blameless, just, God-fearing man who shuns evil, and is still firm in his integrity (Job 2:3). He added well: hitherto firm in his innocence, because it is difficult not to regret the innocence oppressed by misfortunes, and not to waver in faith when aware of the innocence of suffering. In response to this, the devil says to the Lord: skin for skin, and for his life a man will give everything that he has; But stretch out Your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, will he bless You? ( Job 2:4–5 ). The cunning and seasoned enemy knows that there are external things that the philosophers of the world call αδιαφορα, i.e. indifferent, and in whose loss or contempt there is no complete virtue; but there are other things - internal ones, which, like loved ones, constitute a subject of regret for the wise. Therefore, he boldly denies the praise of God and says that he is not at all worthy of praise who gave nothing from himself, but everything from outside himself, who gave the skin of children for his skin and lost his property in order to enjoy the health of the body. From this let your wisdom discern that your temptations have reached only this limit, that you have given skin for skin, flesh for flesh, and that everything you have is ready to give for your soul; but that the hand of God has not yet reached out to you, your flesh has not been touched and your bones have not been broken, with the pain of which it is difficult not to groan and it is difficult to bless God in person instead of blaspheming. Therefore, the Book of Kings says about Naboth that he did not bless God and the king and therefore was stoned by the people (1 Kings 21). And the Lord, knowing His ascetic, knowing that this strong man could not be defeated even in the most dangerous and stubborn struggle, said to the devil: behold, he is in your hand, just save his soul (Job 2:6). The body of the holy man is given over to the power of the devil and the inviolability of the soul is preserved, so that the guilt falls on the sinner, and not on the one who, having struck the mind and feelings, perverted the state of mind. So, let others praise you and extol your victories over the devil with panegyrics, let them praise you for the fact that you graciously endured the death of your daughters, that you saw off your most pious wife not as a deceased woman, but as temporarily separated from you, that on the fortieth day after their death you changed your mourning clothes and the consecration of the relics of the martyr returned your white clothes, so that you would not grieve over your loss, for which the whole city mourned, but rejoice at triumph of the martyr. I will in no way deceive you with flattery or caress you with dangerous praise. I’d rather say what’s good for you to hear: My son! If you begin to serve the Lord God, then prepare your soul for temptation (Sir. 2:1). When you have fulfilled everything commanded to you, say: I am a slave, worthless, because I did what I had to do (Luke 17:10). You took from me (Lord) the children whom You yourself gave to me; took away the assistant whom he gave me as a short-term consolation. I do not complain for what I have taken away, but I give thanks for what I have given. A rich young man once boasted that he had fulfilled everything prescribed in the law; but the Lord said to him in the Gospel: you have not finished one thing: if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:21). He who said that he had done everything, at the first struggle could not defeat wealth. That is why the rich have difficulty entering the Kingdom of Heaven, which requires free inhabitants, soaring to the sky on light wings. Go, he says, and sell not part of your estate, but everything that you own, and give to the poor - not to friends, not to relatives, not to neighbors, not to your wife, not to your children - I will say something more: leaving nothing for yourself out of fear of your own poverty, so as not to be condemned with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), but give everything to the poor and make yourself friends from the mammon of unrighteousness, so that they will accept you into the eternal shelters (Luke 16), in order to follow Me and have the Lord of the world for your acquisition; so that you can sing with David: the Lord is my portion (Ps. 15:5, 72:26) and so that, like a true Levite, you do not possess anything from the earthly inheritance. And I also add: sell and give away your property if you want to be perfect, if you want to reach the pinnacle of apostolic glory, if you want, having picked up the cross, follow Christ, holding your hand, and not look back; if, being placed on a high roof, you despise your former clothes and if, in order to escape from the Egyptian mistress, you leave the outer clothing of the world (Gen. 39). Therefore, Elijah, hastening to the Kingdom of Heaven, cannot enter there with a mantle, but leaves the garment of peace in the world (2 Kings 2). But this, you say, is a matter of apostolic greatness and one who wants to be perfect. Why don’t you want to be perfect? Why shouldn’t you, the first in the world, also be the first in the house of Christ? Is it because you had a wife? But Peter also had her, and yet he left her with the nets and boats. The providential Lord, who desires the salvation of all and desires more repentance than the death of a sinner, has taken away this excuse from you, so that it is not your wife who draws you to your family, but so that you follow her when she draws you to the heavenly abodes. For the children who preceded you in the Lord, acquire blessings so that parts of them serve not to enrich your sister, but to the redemption of your soul and to feed the poor. These are the clothes your daughters ask you for; These are the jewels they want to decorate their heads with. What should have perished in silk clothes, let them be preserved in the cheap tunics of the poor. They ask you for their parts; Having united with the groom, they do not want to be poor and ignorant and demand the jewelry that belongs to them. And there is nothing to protect your nobility and wealth. Look at the holy man Pammachius and the fiery presbyter Paulinus, who offered not only wealth, but also themselves to God. Against the wiles of the devil, they dedicated to God not skin for skin, but flesh and bones and souls. They can guide you to the highest by example and instruction, that is, by both deed and word. And you are noble, and they; but they are nobler in Christ. And you are rich and honorable, and they; Even among the rich and honorable, they are poor and inglorious - and therefore they are richer and more famous because for the sake of Christ they are poor and inglorious. And you do good because, they say, you serve the needs of the saints, look after the monks, donate a lot to the churches. But these are only the first experiments of your warfare. You despise gold: the philosophers of the world also despised it. One of them - not to mention the others - threw into the sea the money received from the sale of many estates, saying: go away from me into the depths, evil inclinations; I drown you so that I myself will not be drowned by you 27. The philosopher - an animal thirsting for glory, and a despicable slave of popular rumor - threw away his entire treasury at once; Do you think that you have already reached the pinnacle of virtue if you sacrificed part of the whole? The Lord wants you yourself as a living sacrifice, pleasing to God. You, I say, and not yours, and admonishes this with various trials, because Israel is admonished by many punishments and sorrows, and because the Lord punishes whomever he loves; he beats every son whom he receives (Prov. 3:12). The poor widow threw two mites into the treasury, and since she donated everything she had, it is said about her that she surpassed all the rich with her sacrifice to God (Mark 12; Luke 21), which is valued not by its quality, but by the disposition of those who offer it. Although you have given your money to many, and although some have been blessed by your generosity, there are many more to whom you have given nothing, for neither the treasures of Darius nor the wealth of Croesus can satisfy the poor of the whole world. And if you give yourself to the Lord and, being perfect in apostolic virtue, begin to follow the Savior, then you will understand where you have been and what last place you occupied in the army of Christ. You did not mourn your dead daughters, and the tears of your father on your cheeks were dried by the fear of Christ. But how much higher is Abraham, who voluntarily killed his only begotten son (Gen. 22) and did not doubt that the future heir of the world would live after death. Jephthah sacrificed a virgin daughter (Judges 11) and that is why he is mentioned by the apostle in the list of saints. Do not just bring to God what can be stolen by a thief, robbed by an enemy, taken away by confiscation, what can come and go, what comes into the possession of masters who change like waves, and what - uniting everything in one word - willy-nilly you will have to leave at death; - and bring something that no enemy can take away from you, no tyrant can steal, something that will go with you to hell or to the Kingdom of Heaven and to the abodes of heaven. You build monasteries, and a large number of saints receive support from you throughout the Dalmatian islands, but you would do better if you yourself lived as a saint among the saints. Be holy, for holy am I the Lord your God (Lev. 19:2, 20:7). The apostles boast that they left everything and followed the Savior; we read that they left nothing but nets and a ship, and yet they will be crowned at the future Judgment. This is because, having offered themselves, they left everything they had. I say this not to censure your deeds and not to belittle your charity and alms, but because I would not want you to be a monk among worldly people or worldly among monks. Hearing that your soul is devoted to divine service, I expect everything from you. If a friend, or acquaintance, or your relative opposes this advice of mine and calls you back to the pleasures of a luxurious table, then know that he is not thinking about your soul, but about his own belly, and that all rich and luxurious feasts end in sudden death. Within twenty days you lost two daughters, eight and six years old, and do you really think that an old man can live long? Listen to David how long his life is: the days of our years are seventy years, and with greater strength - eighty years; and their best time is labor and illness (Ps. 89:10). Happy and worthy of honor is he whom old age finds working for Christ, whom the last day finds laboring for the Savior, who is not ashamed when he speaks to his enemies at the gates (Ps. 126:5), to whom on the eve of heaven it will be said: “You have accepted all the evil in your life, now be comforted here” (Luke 16:25). God does not take revenge twice for the same thing. The rich man, clothed in purple, was consumed by the flames of Gehenna, and the poor and scabbed Lazarus, whose purulent body was licked by dogs and who barely fed his poor soul from the grains of the rich man’s table, is accepted into Abraham’s bosom and is consoled, having such a great patriarch as his father. It is difficult, even impossible, for anyone to enjoy both present and future blessings, for him to feed his belly here and to feed his spirit there, to move from one pleasure to another, to be the first in both ages and to appear in glory both in heaven and on earth. If a secret thought arouses doubt in you - why I myself, the exhorter, am not what I wish you to be, and that you know many who have fallen on an easier path, in response to this I will briefly say that my words are not mine, but the Lord’s Savior, that I exhort you not to what I myself could do, but to what the one who has to be a servant of Christ should want or do. Fighters are stronger than those who excite them, and yet the weakest excites the strongest in the fight. Look not at Judas denying, but at Paul confessing (Christ). Jacob, the son of a very rich father, alone and without everything, only with a staff, goes to Mesopotamia; tired on the journey, he lies down on the ground and, raised in bliss by his mother Rebekah, puts a stone under his head instead of a pillow. In a dream, he saw a ladder from earth to heaven and Angels ascending and descending along it and the Lord establishing himself at the top of it to stretch out his hand to the fallen, so that with His gaze he would strengthen those ascending in the feat. That is why the place is called Bethel, i.e. “the house of God,” in which they ascend and descend daily, for saints fall if they are careless, and sinners again receive the lost degree if they wash away their filth with tears. I said this so that those who descend will not frighten you, but those who ascend will encourage you. С худого никогда не берут примера; далее и в делах мирских возбуждения к доброму берутся от лучшей стороны. – Забыв об обещании и краткости письма, я хотел диктовать больше; in terms of the importance of the subject and the dignity of your personality, everything that is said here is insignificant; but now our Ausonius began to demand a letter to you, to force the scribes, and with the neighing of a hot horse, in a hurry, he began to reproach my weak mind for slowness. Not to mention other examples, follow the home example of the holy Faith 28, which, truly (vere) following Christ, patiently endures the sorrows of wandering, and let “a woman be your guide in such a great matter” (Aeneid. 1 l). 95. Письмо к Минернию и Александру монахам Already at the very moment of departure of St. our brother Sisinius, who delivered your letters to me, I am forced to dictate anything: I cannot help but answer the questions of your wisdom; I just ask you not to consider this word as flattery, and especially as a duty of decency, because I am telling you as I would to myself. He (Sisinius) brought me many questions from St. brothers and sisters from your province, questions to which I thought to prepare the most extensive answer only for the day of Epiphany. But when, working in fits and starts at night, I had already composed answers to most of the questions, and, having satisfied others, saved my strength to answer your question, as the most difficult, Sisinius suddenly came to me, saying that he was now leaving, and when I asked him to postpone his departure, he began to present to me the famine in Libya, the needs of the Egyptian monasteries, the low water supply of the Nile, the helpless situation of many, so that to keep him here any longer would be almost a sin before God. So, what I have prepared for the lining of your tunic - the warp, weft and waist - is the only thing I send to you in unfinished form, so that with your wisdom you can weave what I lack. You are prudent, you are educated, and from dog-like, as Appius says, grandiosity has already passed on to the beauty of Christ's words. I do not need to work hard for you, just as, according to fables, one philosopher experienced while teaching a simpleton. “As soon as he said, I’ll say it happened, half of it, he already understood the rest.” In the same way, due to lack of time, I presented to you only the opinions of each of those who left the interpretation to St. Scripture, and translated most of these opinions word for word, so that I myself could get rid of objections, and you yourself could be given the authority of the ancient writers, so that when you read and approve the opinion of one or another, you would do so not according to my desire, but according to your own will. You ask in what sense it is said and how it should be read in the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 15. Art. 51 – is it true: we will all die, but we will not all change, or, according to other lists, we will not all die, but we will all change: for both readings are found in the Greek codes. Theodore from the city of Irakleia, formerly called Perinthenes, in a brief commentary on the Apostle (Paul) said this. “Although we will not all die, we will all be changed.” For Enoch and Elijah, having defeated the laws of death, were caught up from earthly society into the heavenly kingdom as they were in bodies (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kings 2). Hence, those saints whom the day of destruction and judgment finds in their bodies will be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ along with other saints who have risen from the dead, will not taste death and will always be with the Lord, trampling upon the grave law of death. Therefore, the apostle says: we will not all die, but we will all change; for both the resurrection from the dead and the living, caught up in the clouds, will pass into incorruption and from mortality will change into immortality - they will change not in any time, or even in a short period of time, but in an atom, a point in time, in an instant, in which the eyelid can blink at the last trumpet. And the resurrection of the dead will take place so quickly that the living, whom the last time will find in their bodies, will not have time to precede the dead rising from their graves. Obviously, confirming this, the Apostle Paul says: suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:52-53), so that it can live forever in either case—in torment, or in the kingdom of heaven.” Diodorus, Bishop of Tarsus, omitting this section, in his further explanation made a brief remark on the words: and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. “If,” he says, the dead will rise incorruptible and, without a doubt, they too will be changed for the better: then why was it necessary to say - and we will change? Didn’t he want to make it clear that incorruption is common to everyone, and change is only for the righteous, since they inherit not only incorruptibility and immortality, but also glory? Appolinarius, although in different words, said the same thing as Theodore, namely, that some will not die and will be caught up from the present life into the future life, so that after the change and glorification of their bodies they will forever be with Christ, which, we believe, is now happening with Enoch and Elijah. Didymus, not with his feet, but with his words, going over to the side of Origen’s opinion, goes the opposite way. About the words: I tell you a secret: we will all die, but not all of us will change, he reasoned like this. “If the resurrection did not need interpretation, and did not have any darkness for understanding, then Paul, after so much that he said about the resurrection, would never have added: I tell you a mystery: although we all fall asleep, i.e. We will die, but not all of us, but only the saints alone, we will change. I know that in some codes it is written: we will not all die, but we will all change; but you need to pay attention to the preceding: we will all change, can the subsequent correspond: the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For if everyone changes and this is common to everyone, then it would be unnecessary to say, and we will change. Therefore, it should read like this: we will all die, but not all of us will change. For if in Adam everyone dies, and death is nothing more than a dream, then we will all fall asleep, or we will all die. According to the nature of the Scriptures, the one who dies with the hope of a future resurrection falls asleep. And everyone who falls asleep, of course, awakens, unless sudden death strikes him and death is combined with sleep. If, therefore, everyone falls asleep according to the law of nature, then only the saints will change for the better, both in body and soul: so that incorruption will belong to all those who have risen, but glory and change will belong only to the saints.” The same Didim further words according to the Greek text: έν ἀτόμψ, έν ριπή, or έν ρόπή όϕθαλμού (because it is read either way), - words that ours translated in momento et in ictu or in motu oculi - explained this way: “after the joint resurrection of all, they will be caught up to meet Christ, but those whom death will allow, what do the preceding words mean. For when he says that the resurrection of everyone will happen in the shortest possible time, in the blink of an eye, in a moment, then this excludes any fiction about the first and second resurrection, i.e. as if some will be resurrected first, others last. An atom is a particle of time that cannot be divided or fragmented. That is why Epicurus builds the world from his atoms and produces everything. The moment or twinkling of an eye, which in Greek is read ρόπή, passes so quickly that it almost escapes the consciousness of the observer. since in most codes instead of ρόπή, i.e. moment or instant, reads ρίπή 29, then we must understand this in the sense that just as light fluff or a straw, or a thin and dry leaf is easily lifted by the wind and storm, then also in the blink of an eye, by the wave of God, the bodies of all the dead will be raised, preparing for the coming of the Judge. And what further does the apostle add, saying: at the last trumpet; For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality - this has a double meaning, or that the sound of a trumpet or voice signifies solemnity, as it is said: lift up your voice like a trumpet (Isa. 58:1); or the open resurrection of all, according to the words of the Gospel: when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you (Matthew 6:2), i.e. Do deeds of mercy secretly, secretly, so that it does not seem that you are being vain through the misfortune of another. But I ask: why did the apostle write that the dead will rise at the last trumpet? Because if the last one is mentioned, then, of course, others will precede it. In the Apocalypse of John, seven angels are depicted with trumpets, and it is shown what happens with the sound of each trumpet, i.e. the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth (Apoc. 8-9 chapters), and according to the thunderous sound of the last trumpet, the dead rise, perceiving incorruptible bodies that were previously corruptible. That is why the apostle depicts what follows the last trumpet as follows: the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. When he says we, he shows that he and those who are with him will be different - except for the dead. In explaining this passage, some say that the dead who will rise incorruptible are the bodies of the dead; by those about whom it is said that they will change, we must understand souls, since they will change for greater glory and will reach a perfect man, according to the age of the fulfillment of Christ (Eph. 4:13). Others argue that by the dead we must understand sinners who will rise incorruptible in order to be able to endure eternal torment; those who change are the saints, who pass from strength to strength, from glory to glory. That is why it is added to the incorruptibility of the dead: this corruptible must put on incorruptibility; and to the words, “we will change,” he adds: “And this mortal must put on immortality.” For immortality and incorruptibility are not one and the same, just as there is another mortal and another perishable: everything mortal is at the same time perishable; but not everything that is corruptible is already mortal. Bodies are perishable, in which there is no soul, and yet they are not mortal; since they never had the life that is characteristic of properly animate beings. That is why the apostle so clearly compared corruption with incorruption and mortality with immortality, which is to follow during the resurrection.” Akakios, after Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea, formerly called the tower of Strato, in the fourth book of the συμμίχτων ζητημάτων, asking the same question, discusses it in great detail, and accepting both readings, apparently opposite to each other, after the introduction, which I omit, says this: “Let us first say what is found in most of the codes: “I tell you a secret: although we all die, we will not all change.” Intending to speak in detail about the resurrection, the apostle called it a mystery, wanting to arouse the attention of his listeners. Since dormition, sleep, means death itself, which is the common destiny of all: the apostle very rightly said that we will all fall asleep, i.e. we will die, just as he said above: just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life. And since, therefore, everyone must die, listen to the mysteries that I proclaim to you: although we all die, i.e. We’ll fall asleep, but we won’t all change. The trumpet, undoubtedly the seventh angel, will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible. If the dead are incorruptible, then how will they not change, when incorruptibility itself is change? But the change in which Paul and the saints will change must be understood here in the sense of glorification; and incorruption will be the lot of all because sinners will be even more miserable through it, so that they will suffer forever and not be destroyed by a mortal and corruptible body. In the same epistle of the Apostle, when he discusses the mysteries, we read that those who have risen will be distinguished not by the properties of their bodies, but by the difference of glory, since some will be resurrected for eternal torment, others for eternal glory; For there is one kind of flesh among birds, another among fishes, and another among cattle; there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies: so, he says, at the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:39–40, 42). The Church predominantly agrees with this opinion that we all die according to the general law of death, but we will not all be changed into glory, according to the word of Daniel: and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to eternal life, others to eternal reproach and shame (Dan. 12:2). For those who rise up into reproach and everlasting disgrace will certainly not rise up into eternal glory, into which Paul and those with him will be changed. If this is so and in this sense should be understood, then one must accept the change only in relation to sinners and infidels, who are called dead and will be resurrected incorruptible; one must recognize not the change, but eternal torment.” We move on to the second reading, which in most codes reads like this: we will not all die, but we will all change. Based on this reading, some argue that many will remain alive in their bodies, because if not everyone falls asleep, then not everyone will die; if not everyone dies, then not everyone will be resurrected, because resurrection refers to those who died before. They want to see confirmation of this in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians: we who are alive, remaining until the coming of the Lord, will not warn the dead, because the Lord Himself, with a proclamation, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are left alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17). Based on these words, they are trying to prove that the Apostle Paul and those who wrote the letter with him thought that they would not die, but on the day of judgment they would be caught in the body. If so, then Paul, in believing that on that day he would be in the body, sinned and was deceived by human opinion, since the consequences showed the injustice of this opinion. The Solunians themselves understood this, not knowing the secrets of mystical words, they were worried by various guesses and said: if Paul is caught in the body, then the day of judgment is very close. Therefore, Paul, writing his second epistle, corrected their view, saying: We pray you, brethren, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him, not to be in a hurry to be shaken in mind and be troubled either by the spirit, or by the word, or by the message, as if sent by us, as if the day of Christ was already approaching. Let no one deceive you in any way: for that day will not come, until a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits in the church of God as God, showing himself to be God. Don’t you remember that while I was still with you, I told you this (2 Thess. 2:1-5). With these words, the apostle tries to ward them off from delusion, so that they do not think that the day of judgment is near, and to inspire them to understand what he wrote before: “We who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, will not warn those who have died,” would be understood differently, in the sense that the writer himself connected with them. For it cannot be that the one who wrote to Timothy: for I am already becoming a sacrifice, and the time of my departure has come (2 Tim. 4:6), thought that he would always remain in the flesh and never die and that he would directly pass from earthly life into the kingdom of heaven, especially when in the Epistle to the Romans he said the same thing: who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24), and to the Corinthians: being at home in the body, we are removed from the Lord: then we are complacent and wish better to leave the body and be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6, 8). The one who said this, of course, knew that he would die. Therefore, it is better to understand what is written in a spiritual sense and recognize the dormition in this place not in the meaning of death, by which the soul is removed from the body, but in the meaning of sin and offense to God after accepting faith, in the meaning of the dormition after baptism, about which the Apostle spoke to the Corinthians: for this reason many of you are weak and sick, and many die (1 Cor. 11:30), and in another place: therefore also those who have fallen asleep in Christ perished (1 Cor. 15:18), i.e. Although they died, they will not die an eternal death, since they are bound not by mortal sin, but by light and insignificant sin. Wanting to avoid this, another saint said: let me not sleep into death (Ps. 12:4). For there is the lull of sin, which leads to death, and there is the lull of a minor offense, which is not accompanied by death. Consequently, whoever lives the life that says, (John 14:6) (for your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3)), and will never be separated from it, will not sin toward death, he will be counted among those living and eternally alive, about whom the Savior in the Gospel of John said in a mysterious way: he who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:25–26). Hence the apostle, following the words of his Lord, taught his disciples what he himself had learned from the Teacher. So we won't fall asleep. He who carefully guards his heart, keeps the commandments of Christ and remembers His commandment, which says: watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come (Matthew 24:42), and in another place: do not let your eyes sleep or slumber to your eyelids (Proverbs 6:4), so that you can be saved like a roe from a snare and like a bird from a net, he will not sleep. If in this way some - those who always live in Christ and are awake - do not fall asleep, then it follows that all will not sleep, but, on the contrary, all will be changed, not by the change of glory, which belongs only to the saints, but by the change that this corruptible will become incorruptible, so that everyone will receive either eternal punishment or eternal reward. Let him who has fallen asleep in Christ, fallen asleep in the sleep of negligence, pay attention to the words: he has fallen asleep; he will rise no more (Ps. 40:9); and he who is not asleep and awake, who is always alive in Christ, will pass from life to life, or will be caught up in the clouds, to be always with the Lord. One of those sleeping in this way was Lazarus, about whom the Lord said: Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep, and about whose sleep he says to Mary: he who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:25–26). For whoever surrenders to Christ with all his heart, even if, as a fallen man, dies in sin, he lives by his faith forever. In another meaning, common death is equally the lot of both believers and non-believers, and everyone will be resurrected equally - some for eternal torment, others, according to the strength of their faith, for eternal life. So, we can stand on the opinion that the believer in Christ will not die, and although he will die, he will live forever, which, obviously, with regard to bodily death, no one experienced except Enoch and Elijah (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kings 2). Those who live in Christ with firm faith will not sleep or die; but they will be imitators of the life of the apostles, who lived in the law of righteousness and without any sin, turning to faith in the Lord, believing in Him who is called life and resurrection, never slept, never died. The soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:4). Thus, just as the sinful soul is already dead even during the life of the body and falls asleep into death on the very day on which it sinned, according to Ecclesiastes: “whoever sinned, died thence” (8:12); so the soul that has kept the commandments of Christ will live forever, although the body dies. It must be assumed, or rather read like this: we will all fall asleep, but we will not all change, especially because it further says: the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will change. For if, according to another reading, everyone must change, then how is it added after: and we will change, as something special, private and relating only to the apostles? When, he says, “we,” then by this he means all the saints. You ask how to understand the words of the first letter to Thessalonians, chapter 4. 15 et seq. verse: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who have died, because the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who are left alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Although the above discussion of Akaki very fully revealed the meaning of this passage, nevertheless it is necessary to say about what appears to others, i.e. Theodorus, Appolinarius and Diodorus, who all hold the same opinion. Of these, Diodorus wrote the following. “The Apostle Paul says - those who remain alive do not mean that he and others will remain in bodies on the day of resurrection: but he says we instead of saying the righteous, among whom I am included; for only the righteous will be caught up to meet Christ, and not sinners along with them. By living, we do not mean in the tropological sense the saints who did not die in sin, but we mean all whom the coming of Christ will find in the body. The following words - we will not warn the dead should also in no way be attributed to sinners; for sinners will not be caught up with the righteous to meet Christ, but only the righteous who have been released from the bonds of death will be caught up. But why do I explain this and seem to not trust the words of the apostle, when he himself says very clearly: we are those who remain until the coming of the Lord? And who these remaining ones are, we learn from the words of the Savior: as it was in the days of Noah, they married and were given in marriage: and the flood came and destroyed everyone: so it will be in the days of the Son of Man (Matthew 24; Luke 17). These words affirm that at the end of the world there will be many living and in bodies. Further: at the announcement, at the voice of the Archangel, the dead will rise first. And the Savior speaks about this in the Gospel: but at midnight a cry was heard: behold, the bridegroom is coming (Matthew 25:6). The groom, of course, will be found alive in the body, since there are two on one bed: one will be taken, and the other will be left; two will grind together: one will be taken, and the other will be left (Luke 17:34–35). From these words it is clear that the end of the world will come at midnight, with general carelessness.” Origen, in the third book of έξηγητιχών (interpretations) on the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, to many varied, wise explanations, added the following, from which, no doubt, Acacius also took advantage of many. “What do the words of Peter, Silvanus and Timothy, written by them to the Thessalonians, mean: we who are living, who remain until the coming of the Lord, will not warn the dead? Who are these living people who say this like that? - Without a doubt, Paul is not from men and through men an apostle (Gal. 1), his beloved son by faith Timothy and Silvanus, connected with them both in love and valor. And these words - we living can be said not only by them, but by everyone who is like Paul in thought and activity, whose body is dead for sin's sake, and whose spirit lives for righteousness' sake, and whose lives on earth have been put to death; and if they are killed, they never lust after the spirit, since they lost such lusts when they were killed. Thus, as those who have been released from the present life and have moved on to a better one, they primarily live when they are freed from the mortal body and all other desires; so those who bear in their body the deadness of Jesus do not live according to the flesh, and Christ lives in them, of whom it is said: the word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12) and who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For those live who have been stripped of all human weakness, in whom God’s power lives, in whom the wisdom hidden in God lives, and in whom righteousness lives and works. For Christ became for us not only righteousness from God, but wisdom and all that constitutes power (1 Cor. 1:30). And since in the present place those writing this epistle separated themselves from those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ, this explanation seems unnecessary, and a testimony based on one place would have no force. And now in the same sense, because in the same spirit, it is said in the first letter to the Corinthians: we will not all die, but we will all be changed suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed (1 Cor. 15:51–55). What was said in the place we are explaining (in the letter to Thessalonians) - he will come down from heaven by the trumpet of God, compare with what is said in the letter to the Corinthians: at the last trumpet; for he will sound the trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52); and with the words in the epistle to the Thessalonians - the dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thessalonians 4:15), compare what is written in the epistle to the Corinthians - and the dead will rise incorruptible. What follows: then we, the survivors, correspond to the words: and we will change. Both passages can be understood as follows: we are the living, remaining until the coming of the Lord, we will change; we are not among those who are called dead, but we are living: therefore we wait for the coming of the Lord, not in death, but in life, because we are from the race of Israel and from us the remnant was chosen, about which the Lord once said: I have left among the Israelites seven thousand [men]; all of these did not bow their knees to Baal (1 Kings 19:18), just as in the Gospel of John two categories are depicted - the living and the dead: he who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:25–26). If we understand the living in the sense that we have said, then by the departed and dead in Christ we must recognize those who, although they wanted to live in Christ, died in sin. If by the living we mean the remnant of Israel and those chosen by grace, then those who do not believe rightly and do not come from the chosen tribe of Israel must be recognized as asleep and dead in Christ. There are others who explain this place in this way. Those who never died by sin are called alive; and those who sinned and died because they sinned, and then turned to repentance and made amends for their previous crimes - these, as having sinned, are called dead, but dead in Christ, because they turned completely to God. Further, those who are alive and have the testimony of faith, but have not yet received the promises of the Lord, who has provided something better for them, so that they would not be made perfect without the righteous (Heb. 11:40), find bliss in that they have a good conscience, live and are left at the coming of the Lord Savior. But since God is merciful and wants to save even those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ, the living will not precede these dead, and not only will they be caught up in the clouds, but, according to the word of the Gospel parable, they will receive one denarius, the same reward of salvation, both those who worked in the vineyard from the eleventh hour and those who worked from the first (Matthew 20). And it should not seem unfair to anyone that the same work is not equally rewarded: for there is a great difference between those who are healed after wounds and those who have never seen the fear of death. About these latter, I think, it is said: which of the people lived and did not see death, and delivered his soul from the hand of the underworld? (Ps. 89:49). For “who” is said here not in the sense of “no one,” but as it were: “who do you think,” just as in the same sense it is said: who is wise to understand this? ( Hos. 14:10 ). And elsewhere: Lord! who can dwell in Your habitation? (Ps. 14:1) and again: for who has known the mind of the Lord? (Rom. 11:34). So, the few remaining believers will see the coming of the Lord, and will see God the Word incarnate, not in the humiliation of the flesh, but in the glory of the conqueror. It is also necessary to pay attention to why the apostle first called those who cannot precede the living those who have fallen asleep, and then those who are dead in Christ. Whoever does not keep what is written: do not let your eyes sleep and your eyelids slumber; escape like a roe from the hand and like a bird from the hand of a fowler (Prov. 6:4–5), he will fall asleep and become numb in a sinful sleep, and when he falls asleep, he will pass on to death, because just as a waking person is in motion, so a sleeping person lies motionless and without feelings, as if dead. And that death really follows sleep is clear from the first letter to the Corinthians, which says: But Christ was raised from the dead, the firstborn of those who died. For just as death is through man, so is the resurrection of the dead through man (1 Cor. 15:20–21); and a little later: we will not all die, but we will all change suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed (ibid., 51-52). Consequently, when this is said about sleep and death, and moreover, we read from the Apostle: Arise, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light (Eph. 5:14), then let us swear to the Lord and make each one a vow in his heart to the God of Jacob: I will not ascend to my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes and to my eyelids - slumber, until I find a place for the Lord, without a doubt in my soul, a dwelling - the Mighty One of Jacob (Ps. 132:3-5) - so that in this village God will create an eternal throne for Himself. It follows: for the Lord Himself is in command, etc. For the one sent from heaven will come down from the Father, the Word of God, and wisdom, and truth, and righteousness, not with the power of various miracles, but with the power of a judge, and will come down to those who are in the earth. And although those honored by His descent have died, nevertheless they are not alien to Him, because they are called dead in Christ. The living have the advantage that they form a chosen part among very many. With all this, both of them, both dead in Christ and living, will equally be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ, so as not to wait for Him while He descends into the earthly vale, but to enjoy seeing Him and communicating with Him in mountain abodes. And how merciful Christ is that for our salvation he not only became flesh, but also descended even to the dead and in death itself raised the banner of life! For from His side flowed water and blood (John 19:34). So the Word of God descends preceded by the voice of the archangel, who prepares His way for those who can bear His presence. To bring this closer to our understanding, consider the mystery of the first coming. About John, who was the Forerunner of the Lord, it is written that he said in the wilderness: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and so on. What is this voice proclaiming in the desert? Prepare the way for the Lord, make His paths straight (Matthew 3:3; Luke 3:4; Mark 1:3; John 1:23). For what retribution and for what reward? - let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight, and the rough paths made smooth; and the glory of the Lord will appear, and all flesh will see [the salvation of God] (Isa. 40:4–5); this is because the Word also became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). But now the way will be prepared not by the voice of a prophet in the wilderness, but by the voice of an archangel, who will prepare the way for the one who walks not in humiliation of the flesh, but for Him who is God the Word of the Father. Then some went out into the desert to hear the forerunner of the one who became man and to see a reed shaken by the wind (Luke 7:25), from which flutes and a ringing pipe were made, emitting a pleasant harmony in the mouths of the youths singing in the streets and saying: they played the pipe for you, and you did not dance (Matt. 11:17; Luke 7:32). Now, with the voice of the archangel preceding the Lord, descending from heaven, with the loudest trumpet, each of the believers is called either to fight or to priestly service. In the book of Numbers we read (Num. 10:3) that sacred trumpets were blown before the doors of the tabernacle. And if the voice of the angel and the Archangel’s trumpet is strong, then how much stronger will be the voice of the trumpet of God, which will prepare the paths first for those who have fallen asleep and died in Christ, and then for those who remain alive and await the calling voice of God? Perhaps the sound of a simple trumpet is required for those who sleep and are dead in Christ; The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God are needed for those who live and are preserved by the presence of the Lord. Let's consider how we can understand the following words: we will be caught up together with them. I think that with this word the apostle wanted to show an instant transition to the better, he wanted to call himself delighted because the speed of this transition exceeded the very feeling and thought of it. And in another place the apostle designated this action with a special meaning of the same word: I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago (whether in the body - I don’t know, or outside the body - I don’t know: God knows) was caught up to the third heaven. And I know about such a person (I just don’t know - in the body or outside the body: God knows) that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words that a person cannot retell (2 Cor. 12:2 et seq.). For others, prospering and, so to speak, gradually ascending to greater things, grew until they became, according to the scripture, very great, and some, as we read, were taken into heaven. But Paul, this chosen vessel, raptured, ascends into the third heaven, and therefore hears ineffable words. And what those admired on the clouds admire at the meeting of Christ must be considered with all care. It is known that the clouds mean the prophets, whom God commanded not to rain over Israel when he had fulfilled the measure of his fathers, and since the law and the prophets were before John the Baptist (Matthew 11:13) and since God appointed in His church, firstly, apostles, and secondly, prophets (Eph. 4:11), then by clouds one must understand not only the prophets, but also the apostles. So, if anyone admires Christ, then he ascends on the clouds of the law and the Gospel, on the prophets and apostles, and, taking the wings of a dove, lifted up by their teaching to the things above, he goes to meet the Lord, not down, but in the lofty realms and in the spiritual understanding of the Scriptures. And having met the Lord in the spiritual world and left earthly things, whether the one who has fallen asleep, or who is dead in Christ, or who is alive and remains until His coming, will always be with the Lord and will forever enjoy the word of God, wisdom, truth and righteousness. These are the opinions of learned men regarding both places, and their evidence in support of my opinions I hastily dictated, offering to your wisdom. The authority of my unworthiness, since I am nothing and only open to the curses of envious people, is far from being the same as the authority of those who preceded me in the Lord. But I do not want, like the students of Pythagoras, to unconditionally prefer the opinions of the teacher, but I think that the very foundations of the teaching should be weighed. If someone from the opposite side whispers why I read the explanations of those with whose dogmatic opinions I do not agree, let him know that I willingly follow the words of the Apostle: test everything, hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:21), and the words of the Savior: be skillful money changers, so that counterfeit coins that do not have the image of Caesar and therefore are not recognized as state coins are not accepted; and the one that in clear light represents the face of Christ should be placed in the treasury of our heart. For if I want to become acquainted with dialectics, or with philosophical opinions, if I want, I turn to my subject, to see the knowledge of the Scriptures, then, of course, I must ask about this not the simple men of the church who have other gifts; and every one is rich in his own way (especially when in the great house of our Father there is a great variety of vessels (2 Tim. 2:20)); but I must ask those who learned the art from skilled men and studied in the law of the Lord day and night. Both in my youth and now in my old age, I am convinced that Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea are the most learned men, but that they were mistaken in dogmatic truths. I can say the same about Theodore, Acacius and Apollinaris, and yet they all left us the memory of their labors in explaining the Scriptures. Gold is found in the ground and shiny sand is taken from the bottom of the river, and Patkol 30 is much richer in mud than water. Why do my friends bite me, and these fat pigs grunt when I don’t tell them anything? Their whole concern, and even the height of their knowledge, is to criticize the knowledge of others; they so prove the unbelief of the ancients that they lose their own faith; and I have made it a rule to read the ancient teachers, approve of everyone, adhere to what is good and not deviate from the faith of the Catholic Church. I wanted to dictate now something from my own, or from someone else’s, in response to other small questions; but Brother Sisinius convinced me to write a special letter to you and the other holy brothers who honor me with their love. So I’ll finish this, and, if I’m alive, I’ll save myself for future work, so that I can fulfill the obedience you imposed piece by piece and so that my mature and senile body can endure moderate work. In conclusion, I will briefly note that what is found in the Latin codes: “although we will all rise again, we will not all change,” is not found in the Greek ones, but it stands either - we will all fall asleep, but not all will change, or: for we will not all fall asleep, we will still change. What is the meaning of these words, I said above. Although unfamiliar to me in appearance, you are very familiar to me in your ardent faith. From the extreme reaches of Gaul you summon the one who has taken refuge in the Bethlehem village to answer questions regarding St. Scripture and through the man of God, my son Apodemius, you ask me for a comment, as if you do not have in your province men learned and perfect in the law of God, or, perhaps, wanting to test me more than to receive edification from me and want to know how I think about what you heard from others. Your ancestors Patera and Delphidius, one of whom taught rhetoric in Rome even before my birth, and the other, when I was already a youth, shone with his mind in prose and verse in all Gaul - they, already deceased and silent, rightly reproach me that I dare to say anything to the descendants of their family; although, inferior to them in the power of eloquence and in secular learning, I rightly diminish in them the knowledge of the law of God, which no one can acquire unless it is given to him from the Father of lights (James 1:17), which enlightens every person who comes into the world (John. 1:9) and dwells among the believers who will be gathered in His name (Matthew 18:20). Therefore, I openly say (and I am not afraid that I speak arrogantly) that I write to you not in scientific words of human wisdom, which God will destroy, but in words of faith, matching spiritual with spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13), so that the deep of the Old Testament may call upon the deep of the Gospel (Ps. 41), with the voice of many waters, i.e. prophets and apostles, and so that the truth of the Lord reaches the clouds, which are commanded not to rain on unbelieving Israel, but to water the fields of the pagans and make the dead sea sweet. So pray that the true Elisha will revive the barren and dead waters in me and season the food I offer with the salt of the apostles, to whom he said: you are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), because no sacrifice is offered to the Lord without salt. And do not be carried away by the brilliance of worldly eloquence, which Jesus saw as lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18), but rather look to Him who does not have an appearance that would attract us to Him: a man of sorrows and acquainted with pain (Isa. 53:2–3), and know that in my answers I speak not according to the boldness of human words, but according to the faith of Him who promised: open your mouth, and I will fill them (Ps. 80:11). You ask: how can anyone be perfect and how should a widow left without children live? The teacher of the law asks about the same thing in the Gospel: Teacher, what should I do to have eternal life? The Lord answers him: keep the commandments. He says: which ones? Jesus said: Do not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; don't steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother; and: love your neighbor as yourself. And when he said: I have kept all this, Jesus added: if you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:16–21). Therefore, I will answer you with the words of our Lord: if you want to be perfect and lift up your cross and follow the Lord Savior and imitate Peter, who says: behold, we have left everything and followed you (Matthew 19:27): - go and sell everything you have and give to the poor and follow the Savior. Christ did not say: give to the children, give to the brothers, give to the relatives, whom if you had, even then you should rightly prefer the Lord to them, but said: give to the poor, give even more to Christ, who feeds in the face of the poor, who, being rich for our sake, became poor and who says in the thirty-ninth psalm: I am poor and needy, but the Lord cares for me (Ps. 39:18). The beginning of the next fortieth psalm is about Him: blessed is he who thinks about the poor [and the needy] (Ps. 40:1). Understanding is required in order to know, after the bliss of understanding, who the poor and wretched are. Without a doubt, not the one who lives in poverty and uncleanness, and yet does not remove himself from vices, but those poor and wretched, about whom the apostle says: only so that we remember the poor (Gal. 2:10), for the relief of which Paul and Barnabas worked in the churches of the pagans, so that there would be collections on the first day after Saturday and the offering would not be sent through others, but they themselves would transfer it to those who left their property For Christ's sake, who suffered persecution and said to their father and mother, wives and children: “We do not know you” (Deut. 33:9). They fulfilled the will of the Father and listened to the Lord Savior, who says: for whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:49-50), and I say this not in the sense that I forbade giving alms to the poor Jews or pagans or the poor of any nation, but in the sense that we should prefer the poor from the unbelievers. Christians and believers, and there is a great difference between Christians themselves, whether a poor sinner or a saint. Therefore, the apostle, approving alms to everyone in general, adds: especially to those who belong to the faith (Gal. 6:10). One of your own by faith, who is united with you by the unity of faith and who is not separated by sins from brotherly fellowship with you. And if in relation to our enemies we are commanded to feed them if they are hungry, and to give them drink if they are thirsty, so that, in doing this, heaping coals of fire on their heads (Rom. 12:20): then is it not much more so in relation to those who are not enemies, but Christians and saints? And what is said: for by doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head - this should be understood not in a bad way, but in a good way. For when we show benefits to our enemies, then with our kindness we overcome their malice, we soften their cruelty and incline their angry disposition to gentleness and benevolence, and thus we collect hot coals on their heads, about which it is written: the sophisticated arrows of the mighty, with burning coals of wood (Ps. 119:4), so that, like the coal taken by the seraphim from the altar, cleansed the mouth of the prophet (Isa. 6:6-7), the sins of our enemies were also cleansed, so that we would overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21) and bless those who curse us and imitate our Father, who makes his sun shine on the good and the evil and rains on the righteous and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). So you, since you do not have a few children, make for yourself very many friends from the unrighteous mammon, so that they will receive you into the eternal abodes (Luke 16:9). Well said: from the unrighteous; for all wealth comes from unrighteousness, and unless one loses, another cannot gain. Hence the well-known popular opinion seems very fair to me. The rich man is either unrighteous himself, or he is the heir of the unrighteous. When the teacher of the law heard the words of the Lord and could not bear them, the Lord, turning to the disciples, said: how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:23; Matt. 19:23; Luke 18:24). He didn’t say impossible, but difficult, although he used a comparison of impossibility: it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). It is not so difficult as it is impossible; because it can never happen that a camel can go through the eye of a needle. So a rich man can never enter the kingdom of heaven. The camel is heavy, humpbacked and laden with a burden: and we, therefore, when we walk along the evil paths and leave the right path of the Lord and are burdened with the wealth of the world and the weight of sins, cannot enter the kingdom of God. If we lay down a heavy burden and take for ourselves the wings of a dove, then we will fly and calm down, and it will be said to us: having settled down in [our] inheritances, you have become like a dove, whose wings are covered with silver, and whose feathers are pure gold (Ps. 67:14). Our backbone, which was previously ugly and suppressed by a heavy burden, should have the shine of gold, which is explained in a mysterious sense, and silvered wings, by which are meant the sayings of the scriptures, so that we can enter the kingdom of God. The apostles say that they abandoned their own and for this feat they boldly demand a reward. The Lord answered them: and everyone who leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:29). Oh, how much great bliss to perceive for a small great thing, for a fleeting eternal thing, for a mortal thing that always lives, and to have the Lord as a debtor! And if any widow has children, and especially if she has a noble family, then she should not leave her children in poverty, but should love them equally; but remembering first of all about her soul and knowing that she is also responsible for her children, instead of leaving everything to her children, she will better share her charity with them and make Christ a joint heir of her children. It’s difficult, difficult, unnatural, you say. But listen to what the Lord answers you: whoever can contain it, let him contain it (Matthew 19:12). If you want to be perfect, He does not impose the yoke of necessity on you, but leaves free will to your powers. If you want to be perfect and become on the first step of glory, do what the apostles did, sell everything you have and give to the poor; follow the Savior, follow the poor and lonely cross, go poor and lonely. If you don’t want to be perfect, but want to maintain the second degree of virtue, leave everything you have and give it to your children and relatives. No one reproaches you if you follow the lower, when you know that you are rightly preferred to the one who chose the first. You will say: this is the feat of the apostles and men, and a noble woman, who needs many means for this life, cannot sell everything: listen to the admonitions of the Apostle: it is not required that there should be relief for others, and heaviness for you: but so that there is equality. Now your abundance is the basis of their deficiency, and afterward their abundance is the basis of your deficiency (2 Cor. 8:13–14). Therefore, the Lord says: he who has two clothes, give (the other) to the poor (Luke 3:11). But what if there are Scythian frosts and Alpine snows, which are eliminated not by two or three tunics, but only by animal skins? By having one garment we must understand everything that can satisfy our body and serve as a benefit for the weakness of people whom nature produces naked; in the same way, food for one day is called everything that is necessary for nutrition at the present time. Therefore, it is commanded: do not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34), i.e. about the future tense; and the apostle says: having food and clothing, we will be content with these (1 Tim. 6:8). If you have more than what you need for food and clothing, then give away this excess and consider yourself owed for this excess. Ananias and Sapphira deserved the sentence of the apostles for their timid preservation of their property (Acts 5). Is it really, therefore, true that he who has not given away his property is worthy of punishment? Not at all. They were punished because they wanted to lie to the Holy Spirit and, as if preserving only what was necessary for life, as if they had completely renounced the world, they sought vain glory. In other circumstances, one can give or not give at will, although for one who wants to be perfect, present poverty will be rewarded with future wealth. And how a widow should live - the apostle expresses this in short words: a widow, a voluptuous woman, died alive (1 Tim. 5:6), and I think I spoke about this in great detail in two books I wrote to Furia and Salvina. How should we understand the words of the Savior in Matthew: I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of this vine until the day when I drink new wine with you in the kingdom of My Father (Matthew 26:29)? From this place, some build a fable about a thousand years, during which, they claim, Christ will reign bodily and drink wine, which from that time he will not drink until the end of the world. And we will pay attention to the fact that the bread that the Lord broke and gave to his disciples is the body of the Lord the Savior, as He himself said to them: take, eat: this is My Body, and the cup is the one about which he also said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins 31 (Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14:22–24). This is the cup about which we read from the prophet: I will receive the cup of salvation (Ps. 115:4) and in another place: my cup is overflowing (Ps. 22:5). So if the bread that comes down from heaven is the body of the Lord and the wine that He gave to the disciples is the blood of His new covenant, which was shed for many for the remission of sins: then let us reject the Jewish fables and ascend with the Lord into the great upper room, lined and clean, and accept from Him the cup of the new covenant, and there, celebrating the Passover with Him, we will drink from Him the wine of sobriety: for the Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). It was not Moses who gave us the true bread, but the Lord Jesus, who is both the table holder and the table, the one who eats and the one who is eaten. We drink His blood, and without Him we cannot drink, and in His sacrifices (in cacrificiis Ejus) from the fruit of the true vine and Sorec, which means chosen, daily we trample the red grapes and from them we drink new wine from the kingdom of the Father, not in the old age of writing, but in the renewal of the spirit, singing a new song, which no one can sing, except in the kingdom of the Church (Apoc. 14:3), which is the kingdom of the Father. The patriarch Jacob also wants to eat this bread, saying: if [the Lord] God will be with me and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear (Gen. 28:20). For since we are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) and eat the bread of angels and listen to the Lord, who says: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work (John 4:34). So let us do the will of Him who sent us, the Father, and do His work, and Christ will drink His blood with us in the kingdom of the Church. Why did the evangelists tell different stories about the resurrection and appearance of the Lord? Here, first of all, you ask: why did Matthew say that the Lord rose on Saturday evening at dawn of the first day on Saturday (Matthew 28:1), and Mark notes that Sunday happened in the morning, saying this: “When Jesus (Jesus) rose again, on the first day of the week, he appeared early (mane) to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons: and she went and told those who were with Him, weeping and mourning. And when they heard that He was alive and that she had seen Him, they did not believe” (Mark 16:9–11) 32. This question was resolved a long time ago: either in such a way that we do not accept the testimony of Mark, which is reported in the rare Gospels, while almost all Greek copies of this section do not have 33 at the end, especially when it tells a story that is apparently different and contradicts the other evangelists; - or it should be answered in such a way that both evangelists spoke the truth - Matthew said when Christ was resurrected - on the Sabbath evening, and Mark - when Mary Magdalene saw Him, i.e. in the morning on the first day of the week. For this is how you need to divide this place: “when did he rise” (Jesus), and after taking a little breath, continue: “on the first day of the week, he appeared early to Mary Magdalene,” so that the meaning comes out that he who was resurrected on Saturday evening (according to Matthew) appeared early on the first day of Saturday (according to Mark); which the Evangelist John also notes (chapter 20), testifying that He was seen on the morning of the second day. How, according to Matthew, did Mary Magdalene see the risen Lord on Saturday evening, and the Evangelist John says that on the morning of the first day on Saturday she wept near the tomb (John 20:11)? By the name of the first day after Saturday we must mean Sunday, because the whole week is divided into Saturday, and the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth day after Saturday, which days the pagans call by the names of idols and elements 34. And the apostle commanded that the collection of money assigned for the poor should be done on the first day after Saturday (1 Cor. 16:2). It should not be thought that Matthew and John disagreed; they only called the same time by different names, i.e. midnight and roosters crowing. For Matthew writes on Saturday evening, that is, late, not at the beginning of the night, but in the dead of night, after a large part of the night had passed, the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene and appeared on Saturday evening, which was dawning on the first day on Saturday, explaining to himself what he said with the words: on Saturday evening, that is, when the dawn of the next day was already close. And John did not say unconditionally: on the same Sabbath Mary Magdalene came to the tomb in the morning, but he added: there is still darkness. Thus, one indicated the end and the other the beginning of the same time, i.e. midnight and rooster crow time. And it seems to me that the Evangelist Matthew, who wrote the Gospel in Hebrew, did not so much say in the evening as late, and that the one who translated the Gospel, being misled by the reciprocity of the word, translated not late, but in the evening, although according to the general usage, late does not mean evening, but lateness, because we usually say: he came late, i.e. late, also: did it late, i.e. afterwards, not soon, what you should have done before. And if they ask: how is it that Mary, who had previously seen the risen Lord, then appears weeping at His tomb; then the answer to this should be that Mary, alone and with another Mary or with other wives, remembering the benefits shown to her by the Lord, often flowed to His tomb, and in one case she bowed down when she saw Him, in another she cried, looking for Him when He was not there. Others claim that there were two Mary Magdalenes, who came from the same village of Magdala, and that the one who saw the resurrected man, according to Matthew, was one, and the one who sought the absent Lord, according to John, was another Mary Magdalene. In the Gospels we read that there were four Marys: one was the mother of the Lord the Savior, the other was the sister of His mother, who was called Mary of Clopas, the third Mary was the mother of James and Josiah, the fourth was Mary Magdalene; although some claim that Mary, the mother of James and Josiah, was the sister of the Savior's mother. Some (to get rid of the question) want to see one of the Marys in the Gospel of Mark, but without adding the nickname Magdalene, which was unnecessarily added by the mistake of the scribes, and was not previously given by the evangelist. But it seems to me a simple and clear answer: that the holy women, unable to bear the absence of Christ, throughout the night, not once, not twice, but often ran to the tomb of the Lord, especially when an earthquake, and the disintegration of stones, and an eclipse of the sun, and the confusion of nature, and (what is more important than this) love for the Savior interrupted the women’s sleep. How, according to Matthew, Mary Magdalene on Saturday evening with the other Mary fell at the feet of the Savior, when according to John, early on Saturday (mane sabbati) she heard from the Lord: do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father (John 20:17)? She who had previously seen the risen Lord with another Mary and fell at His feet, then returned during the night (for out of love for the Lord she could not stay at home), fell to the tomb and, seeing that the stone with which the tomb was closed had been rolled away, ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved most, and said to them: They have taken the Lord away from the tomb, and we do not know where they laid Him (John 20:2). The wife's error was combined with piety. Piety was that she loved Him, of whose greatness she knew; the misconception is that she said the Lord was taken away from the tomb, and so on. Then, when Peter and John, having entered the tomb, saw only the shrouds and cloth with which the head of the Lord was wrapped, especially lying, and believed that He, whose body they did not find in the tomb, had risen: then Mary stood outside the tomb and wept. And when she bent down, she saw two angels, dressed in white, sitting in the place of the tomb, at the head and feet where the body of Jesus lay, so that with such greatness of the guards they would not think that the people guarded by the guardian angels could have been stolen. The angels, whom she looked at, said to her: “Woman, why are you crying?” just as the Lord said to his mother: “What is it for me and for you, woman?” My hour has not yet come - so that, calling her a woman, I would convict her of vain lamentation and say: why are you crying. But Mary Magdalene was dumbfounded in amazement, and struck by the miracles, she seemed to be darkened in her faith, so that she did not reflect at the sight of the angels who were before her, but answered like a woman and said: I am crying because they have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him. O Maria! If you believe in the Lord and your God, then how do you think that people took Him? We don’t know, he says, where they laid Him. How do you not know about Him Whom you recently worshiped? And when, having seen the angels, she did not recognize him, she looked at him, and in amazement turned her eyes this way and that, wanting to see only the Lord, then turning back, she saw Jesus standing and did not know that it was Jesus. She did not recognize Him not because, as the Manichaeans and other heretics say, the Lord changed His appearance and face, so that at will he could appear different and in different forms, but because Mary, struck by the miracle, lost consciousness and considered the gardener to be the One Whom she was looking for with such care. And the Lord, in the same words as the angels, says to her: woman, why are you crying? With an addition from Yourself: whom are you looking for? She answered: sir! if you have brought Him out, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him. Here she calls the Savior Lord not in confession of true faith, but with humility and fear she expresses respect before the gardener. And look at the ignorance. She thinks that the One who was guarded by a detachment of warriors and at whose tomb angels sat was carried away by one gardener, and without thinking about female weakness, she imagines and considers herself so strong that she thinks that she, a timid woman, alone can bear the body of a husband and, moreover, of mature age, a body that (not to mention other things) was anointed with a hundred liters of myrrh. And when Jesus called her by name and said to Mary, so that she might recognize Him by his voice, whom she did not recognize by his face, she, continuing her error, calls Him not Lord, but rabbi, that is, teacher. And look at the confusion in your thoughts: Whom you previously recognized as a gardener and called Lord, now, recognizing that you are the risen Son of God, you call him a teacher. Therefore, to her, who was looking for the living with the dead, with feminine foolishness and frivolity, rushing here and there and looking for the body as if killed, Whose feet she had already touched while alive, the Lord turns to her and says: do not touch Me, for for you I have not yet ascended to My Father. The meaning of this is this: you are not worthy to touch the living One whom you seek dead: if you think that I have not yet ascended to the Father, but was stolen by human cunning, then you are not worthy of touching Me. He said this not in order to condemn the zeal of the seeker, but so that she would know that the exhaustion of the received flesh was transformed into the glory of the deity, and so that she would not want to be with the Lord bodily, regarding Whom she was supposed to believe that He spiritually reigns with the Father. Therefore, the apostles had more faith, since they, without seeing the angels, without beholding the Savior himself, believed that He had risen from the dead, after they did not find His body in the tomb. - Others think that the beginning was what is told by John: - that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away from the tomb, and after coming again with Peter and John, she remained alone at the tomb, and not yet believing in the resurrection, she was convicted by the Lord; Having returned home, she again came to the tomb with Mary, and having received assurance from the angel, coming out of the tomb, she bowed to the Lord and fell at His feet, hearing from Him in the same way: Rejoice! And they approached, grabbed His feet and worshiped Him. They have succeeded so much in faith that they are sent to the apostles and hear first: do not be afraid, and then: go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me (Matthew 28:9–10). How, when the tomb was guarded by a detachment of soldiers, did Peter and John freely enter the tomb without any obstacle from any of the guards (Matthew 28; John 20)? Of course, for the reason that after the Sabbath, at dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, came and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow; Frightened by him, the guards began to tremble and became as if they were dead. Thus, those who were so frightened that they seemed dead and, one must assume, either left the coffin and fled, or were numb in both spirit and body, did not dare to interfere not only with men, but also with women who wanted to enter the coffin. For great horror struck them when they saw that the stone was rolled away, when there was an earthquake - not an ordinary one, but so strong that it threatened to destroy the earth to the ground, and when an angel descended from heaven with such a brilliant appearance that it was not like a lamp or light kindled by human art, but all-illuminating lightning, so that they could see in the dark. That is why (Peter and John) enter freely and even Mary Magdalene, who told them, saw that the stone was rolled away and the body of the Lord was taken from the tomb. The angel, one must think, came down not in order to open His tomb at the resurrection of the Lord and roll away the stone, but so that after the Lord had risen - at the hour at which He Himself desired and which is unknown to any mortal - to announce what had happened and to show the emptying of the tomb by rolling away the stone and by its presence, since all this was visible when the radiance of His face with the light of lightning drove away even the thickest darkness. How do Matthew and Mark write that the apostles were commanded through the women to go to Galilee to see the Lord there (Matthew 26 and 28; Mark 16), while Luke and John say that they saw him in Jerusalem (Luke 24; John 20:21)? It was another thing to appear to the eleven disciples, who were hiding because of the fear of the Jews, when He entered to them with the doors locked and when, while they thought that He was appearing to them in the spirit, He showed them His hands and ribs, pierced by nails and a spear - and another thing when, according to the testimony of Luke, He revealed Himself to them with many true proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God. And, having gathered them, He commanded them: do not leave Jerusalem (Acts 1:3-4). In one case He appeared to comfort those who were afraid, and appeared for a short time and again admired from the eyes, and in another He was so close to them and was with them for so long that He even ate food with them. Therefore, the Apostle Paul says that He appeared together to five hundred disciples, and in John we read that when the apostles were fishing, He stood on the shore and ate part of the baked fish and honeycomb - which serves as evidence of the true resurrection; whereas it is not said that He did anything similar in Jerusalem. What does what is told in the Gospel of Matthew mean? Jesus, crying out again with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And behold, the curtain of the church was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:50–53)? I discussed this passage in the same interpretations of Matthew. First of all, it must be said that it is evidence of divine power to lay down the soul when it pleases and to accept it again. Therefore, the centurion, who heard that He said to the Father: into Your hands I commend My spirit (Luke 23:46), and who saw that He immediately gave up the ghost of his own free will, struck by the greatness of the sign, said: Truly He was the Son of God. And the veil of the church was torn in two so that what Joseph narrates was fulfilled, the powers inherent in the church said: let us leave this place. In the Gospel, written in Hebrew 35, we read that it was not the veil of the church that was torn, but that a huge jamb over the doors of the church collapsed. The earth, says Scripture, shook, unable to contain its hanging Lord; and the stones fell apart, in reproach to the bitterness of the Jews, who did not want to understand the presence of the Son of God; and the tombs were opened, as a sign of the future resurrection; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected and, emerging from the tombs, entered the holy city and appeared to many. By the holy city we must mean Jerusalem, in contrast to all other cities that then served idols. For in him alone was the church and the veneration of the one God, and the true religion; and they did not appear to everyone, but to many who received the risen Lord. Then, in a mysterious sense, this passage should be explained as follows: when Jesus cried out and gave up the ghost, the veil of the church was torn into two halves from the highest to the lowest, and all the sacraments of the law were revealed in order to make known to all nations what had previously been kept secret. The two halves are the Old and New Testaments; and from the highest to the lowest, this is from the beginning of the world, when man was created, through the entire middle of the events that sacred history narrates, until the end of the world. But the question is: which of the curtains of the church was torn, the outer or the inner? It seems to me that during the suffering of the Lord that veil was torn, which in the tabernacle and in the church hung outside, and was called external: for now we see in part, for we know in part; when the perfect comes (1 Cor. 13:9-10), then the inner veil must also be torn, so that we can see all the mysteries of the house of God, now hidden for us. We will see then what the two cherubim mean, what is the oracle, and what is the golden vessel in which the manna was hidden. Now we see as if through a glass darkly, darkly (ibid., v. 12); and although the veil of history was torn for us to open the entrance to the porch of God, we cannot know His secrets and all the sacraments in general that are kept enclosed in heavenly Jerusalem. So, during the suffering of the Lord, the earth shook according to what is written in Haggai: once again, and I will shake heaven and earth; and He who is desired by all tongues will come (Hag. 2:7–8), and from the east and the west will lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 8:11). And the stones will disintegrate, i.e. the hardened hearts of the heathen; or stones, these are all the predictions of the prophets (who themselves, together with the apostles, received the names of stones from the stone - Christ); and what was contained within them under the thick veil of the law, having broken through, was revealed to the nations. And the tombs, about which it is written: You eat tombs, which on the outside seem beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and all uncleanness (Matt. 23:27), opened so that those who were previously dead in unbelief would come out of them, so that they would come to life with the risen and living Christ, enter into heavenly Jerusalem, have a life not on earth, but in heaven, and dying with earthly Adam, would be resurrected with heavenly Adam. Further, with a literal understanding of the place, it should not seem incongruous to anyone that Jerusalem, after the death of the Savior, is called the holy city; for before its destruction the apostles always entered the church and performed the rites of the law, so as not to give temptation to those who believed among the Jews. And the Lord loved Jerusalem so much that he wept and wept for it (Luke 19:41), and while hanging on the cross, he said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). And He asked for what He prayed for: at first many thousands of the Jews believed, and he was given time to repent until he was forty-two years old. After these years, since the Jews persisted in malice, two bears, Vespasian and Titus, came out of the forests of the Roman peoples, and killed and tore to pieces the children who blasphemed and a whole choir mocked the true Elisha, who ascended into the house of God (for this is how the word is translated - Bethel 2 Kings 2). Since then, Jerusalem is no longer called the holy city; but, having lost its holiness and its former name, it is called in a spiritual sense Sodom and Egypt. For in its place a new city is being built, whose river streams make glad (Ps. 45:5), from which flows a source that sweetens the bitterness of the whole world; and pitiful Israel cries disarmed over the ruins of the church, while the multitude of believers in Christ sees new roofs of the church rising daily, and says to Zion: the place is cramped for me (Isa. 49:20). Thus, what is written in Isaiah is fulfilled: and his rest will be glory (Is. 11:10). How did the Savior, according to John, breathe the Holy Spirit into the holy apostles, and according to Luke, promise that he would send Him after the Ascension (John 20:22; fn. Luke 24:49)? The solution to this question is very easy, as we soon know from the teaching of the Apostle Paul that there are various gifts of the Holy Spirit. In his first letter to the Corinthians, he wrote: There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and the services are different, but the Lord is the same; and the actions are different, but God is one and the same, producing everything in everyone. But everyone is given the manifestation of the Spirit for their benefit. To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. Yet all these things are done by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as He pleases (1 Cor. 12:4-11). The Lord, according to the Gospel of Luke, said after his resurrection: and I will send the promise of My Father upon you; But remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high (Lk. 24:49), and according to Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles: he commanded them: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised from the Father, about which you heard, He spoke, from Me, for John baptized with water, and you, a few days after this, will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5); and at the end of the Gospel of John it is narrated that on the very day of his resurrection, i.e. On the weekday, He entered the apostles with the doors locked and said to them twice, “Peace be with you,” adding, “As the Father has sent Me, so am I sending you.” Having said this, he blew and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; on whomever you leave it, it will remain on him (John 20:21–23). This means that on the first day of the resurrection, the apostles received the grace of the Holy Spirit, by which sins are forgiven, they baptized, made them sons of God and gave the believers the rights of adoption, as the Savior himself says: whose sins you forgive, their sins will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will stay on it. On the day of Pentecost they were promised more, namely: that they would receive baptism from the Holy Spirit; they will be clothed with power from above, with which they will preach the Gospel of Christ to all nations, according to what we read in the sixty-seventh psalm: The Lord will give the word: there will be a great multitude of heralds (Ps. 67:12); they will have the effect of powers and the gift of healing, and when they go to preach to many nations, they will receive a generation of languages, so that at that time it will already be known which of the apostles should preach the gospel to which nations. Subsequently, the Apostle Paul, who preached from Jerusalem to Illyricum and intended from there to go through Rome to Spain (Rom. 15:19, 24), thanked God that he spoke in tongues more than all the apostles (1 Cor. 14:18). He who had the power to preach to many nations received the gift of many languages. This promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the tenth day after the ascension of the Savior, according to the testimony of Luke, who wrote: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord together. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And cloven tongues as of fire appeared to them, and one rested on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:1-4). Then what is read in Joel was fulfilled: And it shall come to pass after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions (Joel 2:28; sn. Acts 2:17). The word outpouring means an abundance of grace, and expresses the very thing that the Lord promised: you, a few days after this, will be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). For the Holy Spirit baptized them so richly that it filled the whole house where they were sitting; and the fire of the Holy Spirit found the desired refuge in them, divided the tongues, and, like Isaiah, who said that he had unclean lips, cleansed their lips so that they could preach the Gospel of Christ more blamelessly. And Isaiah says that the tops of the church shook, but the whole house was filled with incense (Is. 6:4), i.e. error, darkness, misunderstanding of truth. At the beginning of the Gospel, the church is filled with the Holy Spirit in order for His grace and burning power to cleanse the sins of all believers, so that the fire of the Holy Spirit, which the Lord promised to send, would heal the tongue that has to preach Christ. So John and Luke do not disagree when he depicts what happened on the first day of the resurrection, which he represents as having happened on the fiftieth day. Such is the gradualness in the acceptance of the apostleship: those who first received the grace of the remission of sins, then received the effects of power and all kinds of gifts, which we described from the Apostle, and what is especially necessary is the diversity of languages ​​of all peoples, so that they do not need any translator when they begin to preach Christ. Because when in Lycaonia they heard that Paul and Barnabas spoke the local language, they were taken for gods who had turned into people (Acts 14:11). The grace of the Holy Spirit is truly an endowment of strength: possessing it, they were not afraid of either the tribunals of judges or the purple of kings. For even before the Lord had promised them through suffering, saying: When they betray you, do not worry about how or what to say; for in that hour it will be given to you what to say, for it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father who will speak in you (Matthew 10:19–20). I, for my part, say boldly and with complete freedom that since the apostles believed in the Lord, they always had the Holy Spirit: without the goodness of the Holy Spirit they could not do signs; but they had Him to a certain extent. Therefore, the Savior cried out in the church, saying: if anyone thirsts, come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. He said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in Him were about to receive (John 7:37–39). In the same place it is added: for the Holy Spirit was not yet on them, because Jesus had not yet been glorified: but this does not mean that the Holy Spirit was not there, since the Lord Savior says: if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God (Matthew 12:28), but in the fact that, being in the Lord, He did not yet rest entirely on the apostles. That is why they are horrified during His suffering, and they are convinced and swear that they do not know Christ. And after they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, they freely said to the Jewish high priests: we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29); then they raise the dead; they rejoice under the scourge; they shed blood for Christ, and in torment they find a crown for themselves. So, if the Spirit had not been on the apostles, spiritual gifts would not have flowed from their womb, for the Lord had not yet been glorified. And what kind of glory was that, he himself said in the Gospel: now glorify Me, O Father, with You, with the glory that I had with You before the world was (John 17:5). The glory of the Savior is the gallows on which He triumphs. He is crucified as a man, but glorified as God. The sun disappears, the moon turns into blood, the earth trembles with an unusual shaking, coffins open, the dead walk, stones disintegrate. This is the glory that is spoken of in the psalm: arise, my glory, arise, psalter and harp (Ps. 56:9). Both glory itself and the flesh, which has found intercession for its healing, answer for themselves: I will rise early; and thus the inscription of the twenty-first psalm is justified - about the intercession of the morning. We say this not because we believe that there is another God and another man, and that in the one Son of God two persons are distinguished, as the new heresy falsely asserts. One and the same is both the Son of God and the Son of man, and from what is said, we attribute one to His divine glory, the other to our salvation. Why did He not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even to the point of death, even death on the cross (Phil. 2:6–8). And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). I am surprised at Montanus and his crazy women, these half-baked prophets! The Lord gives a promise and says: I am going and will send you another Comforter (John 14); according to the legend of the Evangelist Luke (Acts 1–2), the apostles received what was promised: and they, after a long time, claim that it was fulfilled for them. The apostles were promised: I will send the promise of My Father upon you; But you remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high (Luke 24:49); and the resurrected one blew on the apostles, and not on Montanus, Priscilla and Maximilla, and on them, i.e. to the apostles, says: whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will stay on it. I say, He commanded the apostles not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father. And after this we read about the fulfillment of the promise: they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4). For the Holy Spirit, the Spirit breathes where he will (John 3:8). And when the Lord says: I will send you another Comforter, this shows that He himself is the Comforter (Paraclete means Comforter). And God the Father, in prayer to Him, is called by the same name: God of condolences and all kinds of joy (2 Cor. 1:3). If the Father is the Comforter, and the Son is the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, and believers are baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, by which name God is meant: then those who have the same name of Deity and Comforter have the same nature. This Holy Spirit was not only on the apostles, but also on the prophets: David prayed for him, saying: Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me (Ps. 50:13). It is said of Daniel that he had the Holy Spirit; and David, by the inspiration of the Spirit, said that the Lord said to my Lord: sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool (Ps. 109:1). The prophets did not prophesy without the Holy Spirit; and by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power; and what is characteristic of the Father and the Son is also characteristic of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Himself, when sent, is sent from the Father and the Son; Now in one place, now in another place he is called the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son. Why is it also said in the Acts of the Apostles that those who were baptized with the baptism of John and believed in God the Father and Christ, since they did not know about the Holy Spirit, were baptized another time; and even then they received true baptism. For without the Holy Spirit the mystery of the Trinity is not complete. In the same book, Peter is quoted as saying to Ananias and Sapphira that those who lied to the Holy Spirit did not lie to people, but to God (Acts 5:4). What does the well-known reasoning of the Apostle Paul mean when he writes to the Romans: what shall we say? Is it really not true with God? No way (Rom. 9:14), to the point where he says: if the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, would we have become like Sodom, and would we have been like Gomorrah (v. 29)? The entire Epistle to the Romans requires interpretation, and it is so dark that to understand it we need the help of the Holy Spirit, who spoke this very thing through the Apostle. But the passage indicated is especially obscure, which, wanting to protect the truth of God from reproach, some understand to mean that “on the basis of previous data” (ex praecedentibus causis) Jacob was chosen from the womb of Rebekah and Esau was rejected, just as Jeremiah and John the Baptist were chosen from the womb, and the Apostle Paul himself was destined to preach the Gospel even before his birth. We do not hold opinions other than church ones, and those that we are not afraid to declare publicly before the church. Therefore, we will not follow Pythagoras and Plato and their disciples, who introduce pagan dogmas under the Christian name - we will not say that souls fell from heaven, and, according to the difference in merit, are punished for ancient sins in one or another body. It is much better to openly admit ignorance, and between other things we do not know, to evade the darkness and this place, than, thinking to prove the truth of God, to defend the heresy of Basilides and Manichaeus, and to be carried away by Iberian tales and Egyptian wonders. So let us say as much as we can, and following the train of thought of the apostle, we will not retreat, as they say, not a point or a hair from the direct meaning of his speech. Above, he wept and called on the Holy Spirit to witness his conscience and his grief that his brothers and relatives in the flesh, i.e. the Israelites did not receive the Son of God - the Israelites, to whom belong the adoption and the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the worship, and the promises; theirs are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary; and the never-ending heart disease tormented him so much that he himself wanted to be excommunicated from Christ, i.e. perish alone, so that the whole tribe of Israel does not perish (Rom. 9:1–5). But, having said this, the apostle foresaw the inevitable objection from the outside: what are you saying? As if all the children of Israel would already perish? How did you yourself, and the other apostles, and countless people from the Jewish people accept Christ the Son of God? He resolves this objection as follows: Israel in the Holy Scriptures is presented in two forms and is divided into two sons, a son according to the flesh, and a son according to promise and spirit. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael, born according to the flesh, did not receive his father's inheritance. Isaac, born of Sarah according to the promise, is called the seed of God. For it is written: Your seed will be called Isaac, i.e. not those sons of God, who are the sons of the flesh, but the children of the promise, these are counted among the seed. And we know this not only in relation to Ishmael and Isaac, but also in relation to the two sons of Rebekah, Esau and Jacob, of whom one was rejected and the other chosen. All this, according to the apostle, means that in the person of the first two brothers, Ishmael and Esau, the Jewish people were rejected; and in the person of the latter, i.e. Isaac and Jacob, the chosen people are depicted from the pagans, as well as those who had to believe in Christ from the Jews. But since, to prove this, he referred to the legend about the birth of the twins Esau and Jacob, about whom it is written: the older will serve the younger (Gen. 25:23), and in Malachi we read: Jacob he loved, but Esau he hated (Mal. 1:2): then, as usual, he offers an objection from the outside, and examines it; and having resolved this objection, he returns to where he began his speech. If Esau and Jacob had not yet been born, and had not done anything either good or evil with which they could appease God or offend; and if their election and rejection was not a matter of the merits of each of them, but of the will of the one who chooses or rejects: then what do we say? Isn’t God unjust, judging by what he says to Moses: I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy on; who should I feel sorry for? If we assume, says the apostle, that God does whatever he wants, and without merit and deeds, either chooses or condemns anyone: then it is not from him who wills and not from him who runs, but from God who has mercy; especially when it is also Scripture, i.e. the same God says to Pharaoh: for this very reason I raised you up, to show My power over you and so that My name might be preached throughout all the earth. If this is so, and if He, by His will, has mercy on Israel and hardens Pharaoh: then it is in vain to complain about us, in vain to judge us for not doing good or doing evil; for it is in His own power and will, and without good or evil deeds, to choose or reject anyone, especially if His will cannot be resisted by human weakness. This strong objection, derived from the meaning of Scripture and almost insoluble, was resolved briefly by the apostle, with the words: Who are you, man, that you argue with God? The meaning is this: by the very fact that you answer God, that you falsely accuse Him, that you find in Scripture something that you can bring against Him and that you accuse the justice of His will, you thereby show that you have complete freedom to do what you want, to be silent and to speak. If you think that God created you in the likeness of an earthen vessel, and you cannot resist His will, then take into account that the earthen vessel will not say to the potter: why did you make me like this? The potter has the power from the same clay, from the same mass, to make one vessel for honor, another for reproach. But God created everyone with the same purpose, and gave everyone free will to do what they want, both good and evil. He gave everyone freedom to such an extent that the wicked tongue argues against its Creator and examines the motives that guide His will. What if God, desiring to show His wrath and demonstrate His power, with great long-suffering spared the vessels of wrath, which were ready for destruction, in order to show together the riches of His glory over the vessels of mercy, which He prepared for glory, over us, whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles? Just as Hosea says: “I will not call my people my people, and not my beloved, beloved.” And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they will be called sons of the living God (Rom. 9:22–26), and so on. If, says the apostle, God’s patience embittered Pharaoh, and if God postponed the punishment of the Israelites for a long time in order to judge with greater justice those to whom he had been lenient for so long: then one should blame not the patience and infinite mercy of God, but the bitterness of those who abused the goodness of God to their destruction. In other words: there is only one solar heat, but depending on the properties of the objects on which it acts, it melts some, makes others solid, decomposes others, and holds others together. So, the wax melts, the clay becomes hard: but the nature of the heat does not differ from this. So exactly the goodness and mercy of God are vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction, i.e. the people of the Jews harden: but the vessels of mercy, prepared for glory, called, i.e. He saves us, who are not only Jews, but also pagans, not blindly and in violation of justice, but on the basis of previous data: because those did not accept the Son of God, but these desired to accept Him on their own. The vessels of mercy are not only the multitude of pagans, but also those of the Jews who wanted to believe; and thus one nation of believers was formed. From this it is clear that it is not nations that are chosen, but the dispositions of people; and it was done so in fulfillment of what was said in Hosea: I will not call my people my people, i.e. people of the pagans; and to whom it was said before: you are not my people, there you will be called sons of the living God. So that it does not seem that this is said only about the pagans, the apostle calls both the elect and those who believed from among the Jewish people vessels of mercy. Isaiah cries out for Israel: even though the children of Israel were as many as the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved, i.e. if the majority remain in disbelief, few will believe. For God weighed on the scales of His truth a decisive and short word - through the destruction and incarnation of Christ to save those who wished to believe in Him. Isaiah said the same thing in another place: if the Lord of hosts had not left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and would have been like Gomorrah. Having presented evidence that predicts a double calling of the pagans and the Jewish people, the apostle moves on to a related subject, and says that the pagans, who did not seek righteousness, received righteousness because they did not exalt themselves, but believed in Christ; and the majority of the Israelites fell because they stumbled over the stumbling block, the stone of temptation, did not know the righteousness of God, but, trying to establish their own righteousness, did not want to submit to the righteousness of God, which is Christ. I read in the interpretations of one writer that the apostle answered this way in order to complicate rather than solve the question. He speaks to the proposed question: what shall we say? Is it really not true with God? And: not from him who wills, and not from him who runs, but from God who has mercy; and: he has mercy on whomever he wants; and he hardens whomever he wants; and: whoever resists His will, the apostle answers like this: O man! You who are earth and ashes, do you dare to question God? Being fragile and a vessel of clay, do you dare to rebel against your potter? Can a clay cast say to the one who molded it: why did you do this to me? Or does the potter not have power over the clay, so that from the same block he can make one vessel for honor and another for reproach? So, be silent with eternal silence, remember your frailty, and do not bother God with the question: He did as He wanted, when in relation to one he is merciful, and in relation to others he is harsh. What do the words of the apostle mean in the second letter to the Corinthians: for some it is a smell of death unto death, but for others it is a smell of life for life. And who is capable of this (2 Cor. 2:16)? Let us present this passage in its entirety in order to understand it in the connection in which it stands with the previous and subsequent ones. Having come to Troas, says the apostle, to preach the gospel of Christ, although the door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there; but, having said goodbye to them, I went to Macedonia. But thanks be to God, who always allows us to triumph in Christ and spreads the fragrance of knowledge of Himself to us in every place. For we are a aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to some a savor of death unto death, and to others a savor of life unto life. And who is capable of this? For we do not corrupt, as many do who sell the word of God, but we preach sincerely, as from God, before God, in Christ. The Apostle tells the Corinthians what he did, what he endured, and how he thanks God for everything, in order to motivate them to heroism by his own example. I came, he says, to Troas, which was formerly called Troy, to preach the Gospel of Christ in Asia. Although a door was opened to me in the Lord, i.e. either very many believed, or, because of the signs and power with which God acted in me, there was hope for the birth of faith and for its growth in the Lord, but I had no rest in my spirit, i.e. I could not find the consolation that I had hoped for: I did not find my brother Titus, whom I either thought to meet there, or whom I heard about living there, or who said that he would come there. What kind of consolation was this, and what kind of peace of spirit was it in the presence of Titus, not finding whom the apostle said goodbye to the Troadians and went to Macedonia? We have said several times that the Apostle Paul was a most learned man and received his education at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, says in the Sanhedrin: and now, what do you want to do with these people? If it is of God, it will stand; if from people, he will be ruined (Acts 5:35–39). But although he knew the Holy Scriptures and possessed the gift of speech and the gift of various languages, which is why he boasts in the Lord and says: I thank my God: I speak in tongues more than all of you (1 Cor. 14:18): however, he could not express himself in Greek worthy of the greatness of divine thoughts. Therefore, he had Titus as a translator: just as blessed Peter had Mark. The latter’s gospel is composed as follows: Peter narrated, and this one wrote. And the fact that the two messages attributed to Peter differ from each other in syllable, character and structure of speech is explained for us by the fact that he was forced by circumstances to use different translators. So the Apostle Paul grieves: because he did not find a pipe for his sermon and an organ for his song to Christ. And he went to Macedonia: because a Macedonian man appeared to him, saying: Come to Macedonia and help us (Acts. 16:9), - he went to find Titus there and visit the brethren, or to test himself in persecution: for this is the meaning of his words: but thanks be to God, who always allows us to triumph in Christ and spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Himself to us in every place. - He allows us to triumph in victory, because it is celebrated by us or a victorious triumph is arranged through us, who, as the apostle said elsewhere: have become a disgrace to the world, to angels and men (1 Cor. 4:9). Subsequently, the apostle says: for when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were oppressed on every side: from without - attacks, from within - fears. But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us with the arrival of Titus, and not only with his arrival, but also with consolation (2 Cor. 7:5-7). So the apostle, having said goodbye to the Trojans or Troadians, went to Macedonia to find Titus there, and to have consolation in the translator and in the preaching of the Gospel; but as we see, he did not find him there, and Titus appeared unexpectedly after the trouble and persecution that the apostle suffered. So, before the arrival of Titus, having endured much, the apostle thanks God about Christ Jesus, whom he preached to the pagans, that he chose in him a worthy person in order to arrange in him the victorious triumph of his Son. The victorious triumph of God is the suffering of martyrs, the shedding of blood for the name of Christ and joy during the most torture. For, as soon as anyone saw with what courage the martyrs labored and were subjected to torment, and boasted of their very sufferings, the fragrance of the knowledge of God spread to the pagans, and the thought involuntarily came to mind that if the Gospel were not true, they would never have defended it with blood. This religion promised no consolation, no wealth, no security, but only prisons, wounds, persecution, hunger, nakedness and thirst. Such is the triumph of God and the victory of the apostles. But the listener of the apostle could object: how come not everyone believed? Therefore, before he is asked, he decides άν ϧ υποϕοράν 36; and, as usual, deals with any objection that anyone might make before it is made. The meaning of his speech is this: the good fragrance of the name of Christ is God in every place, and the fragrance of our preaching spreads everywhere. But since people are left to their own arbitrariness, because they do good not under compulsion, but out of a free determination to receive a crown for faith or to suffer punishment for unbelief, then our fragrance, good in itself, turns into life or death, depending on the virtue or depravity of those who accept it or not; so that those who believe will be saved, but those who do not believe will perish. This should not be surprising in relation to the apostle, when we read about the Lord himself: Behold, this destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for the subject of controversy (Luke 2:34). The rays of the sun fall on both clean and unclean places, and also shine on flowers, as well as on dung; however, they are not desecrated. Likewise, the good fragrance of Christ, always unchanging and not losing its properties, constitutes life for believers, and death for unbelievers. This death is not the ordinary death with which we die along with animals and livestock, but the one about which it is written: the soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:4). Why should we understand by life not the one that is manifested by breathing, running here and there, but the one about which David speaks: but I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 26:13). For God is the God of the living, and not of the dead (Matthew 22:32); and our life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, appears, then we will appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). Do not consider, O Corinthians, of little importance, says the apostle, if some believe our preaching about the truth, others do not believe: some will die a true death, while others will live the life that says: I am life. If we had not spoken, then just as death would not have overtaken the unbelievers, so the believers would not have inherited life: because it is difficult to find a worthy proclaimer of the virtues of Christ who, in proclaiming them, would seek not his own glory, but the glory of the one whom he preaches. Saying that he is not like many who sell the word of God, the apostle shows by this that there are very many who turn piety into providence and do everything for the sake of profit - those who devour the houses of widows (Luke 20:47); but he himself speaks sincerely, as one sent from God and in the presence of the one who sent him - he says everything in Christ and for Christ, so that the work of preaching God, the victorious triumph of Christ, would be His glory. It should also be noted that at the end of this chapter the mystery of the Trinity is indicated: because the apostle speaks from God, by the Holy Spirit, before God, the Father, in Christ. To prove that the apostle from Troas went to Macedonia, I will give evidence from the Acts of the Apostles. Having passed Mysia, they descended into Troas. And Paul had a vision at night: a certain man, a Macedonian, appeared, asking him and saying: come to Macedonia and help us. After this vision, we immediately decided to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord was calling us to preach the gospel there (Acts 16:8-10). What does the apostle say in his first letter to Thessalonians mean: may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23)? The question is very common, but its solution is very short. The Apostle said above: do not quench the spirit (v. 19); If these words are clear to us, we will immediately understand what kind of spirit it is, which we must preserve together with soul and body for the day of the coming of the Lord. For who can believe that the Holy Spirit is extinguished like a flame, which, being extinguished, ceases to be what it was, and will argue that He is destroyed - He who was once among the people of Israel and could speak through Isaiah, Jeremiah and each of the prophets: Thus says the Lord, and now speaks in the church through the mouth of Agabus: Thus says the Holy Spirit (Acts 21:11)? There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; and the services are different, but the Lord is the same; and the actions are different, but God is one and the same, producing everything in everyone. But everyone is given the manifestation of the Spirit for their benefit. To one is given the word of wisdom by the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to others gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another divers tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. Yet all these things are done by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as He pleases (1 Cor. 12:4-11). David prayed for this Spirit, so that He would not depart from him, saying: Do not take your Holy Spirit from me (Ps. 50:13). When He is taken away, He does not fade away in His being, but fades away for the one from whom He is taken away. I think that the words have the same meaning: do not quench the spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and what was said elsewhere: be fervent in the spirit (Rom. 12:11). For in whom the spiritual flame does not weaken due to the increase in injustice and coldness of love, in that spirit the spirit does not fade at all. May the God of peace sanctify you with everything, or in everything, or full and all-perfect, for the word δλότεύς has a more recent meaning. God is called the God of peace because we are reconciled to Him by Christ, who is our peace, having made both one (Eph. 2:14), and which, in another place, is called the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding and guards the hearts and minds of the saints (Phil. 4:7). But whoever is sanctified, or perfected in all things, is preserved in spirit and soul and body for the day of the Lord. The body is preserved if each of the members has the proper function, the hand, for example, acts, the leg walks, the eye sees, the ear hears, the teeth grind food, the stomach cooks, the belly distributes; or if no part of the members is mutilated. But who can believe that the apostle prays for believers that Christ will find the bodies of all of them unharmed on the day of judgment, when the bodies of all, whether they are destroyed after death or (as some want) and remain alive until that time, in any case have their shortcomings, and especially the bodies of martyrs and those whose eyes are gouged out for the name of Christ, or their nostrils are torn off, or their hands are chopped off? So that body, about which we spoke in answer to another question, will remain unharmed, which has a head, from which the whole body, composed and joined together, receives the increase of the body of Christ for creation (Eph. 4:16). This body is the church. Anyone who has retained the head of this body and preserved the remaining members will have a body unharmed, as far as is possible for human nature. In the same way, the integrity of the soul must be preserved, to which one can say: bless the Lord, my soul, who heals all your ailments (Ps. 102:1, 3), and about which Scripture speaks: He sent His word and healed them (Ps. 106:20). The spirit in it will remain unharmed if we do not sin in spiritual matters, but live in the spirit, be confirmed in the spirit, mortify the deeds of the flesh with the spirit and bear all its fruits, love, joy, peace, etc. Otherwise: through the mouth of Solomon we are instructed: have I not written to you three times in advice and instruction, so that you could convey the words of truth to those who send you (Prov. 22:21). According to this threefold writing on our hearts, a threefold rule is observed in relation to the scriptures. We must understand them, firstly, historically, secondly - in an allegorical sense, and thirdly - in a spiritual sense. In history we follow the connection of things as they are described. In allegorical speech, we rise above the letter, interpret it in a moral direction and turn it to the benefit of our soul. In spiritual ϧ εωρία we ascend to the highest, leave earthly things, talk about future bliss and heavenly objects: so that our reflection in present life has the appearance of future bliss. Those whom Christ finds having preserved body, soul, and spirit intact, and having within themselves the threefold knowledge of perfect truth, He will sanctify them with His peace and make them all-perfect. Many people simply understand these words that the spirit, soul, and body will remain unharmed at the coming of the Lord - about the resurrection. Others, based on this passage, argue that there are three substances in man: the spirit that thinks, the soul with which we live, and the body with which we move. There are also those who, believing that a person consists only of soul and body, by the third in him - spirit - they mean not substance, but action, which allows us to distinguish within ourselves the mind, feeling, thought, spirit; that everything is not so much a substance as it is different names. When they are confronted with the well-known saying: bless the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous (Dan. 3:86), they deviate from this testimony of Scripture, saying that it is not in the Hebrew. And we, in the passage of Scripture under consideration, by being preserved in integrity together with the soul and body, we mean, as said above, not the substance of the Holy Spirit, which can be destroyed, but His grace and gifts, which, depending on our virtues or vices, either increase in us or fade away. My son Apodemius (the meaning of his name 37 he explained when he undertook a long sea voyage to us, and from the shores of the ocean and the most distant borders of Galia, passing Rome, reached Bethlehem to find in it the bread of heaven 38, and, having had his fill, burped about the Lord, and said: a good word poured out of my heart; I say: my song about the King (Ps. 44:2) delivered to me in a small letter, very important questions, which I said were given by you to convey to me. Reading them, I came to the idea that you were filled with the jealousy of Queen Sheba, who came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon (Matt. 12:42; 1 Kings 10:1). Sheba, - you, in whose mortal body sin does not reign, and who, having turned with all her soul to the Lord, hears from him: look around, look around, Shulamite (Song. 6:12): because Sheba in our language means “conversion.” At the same time, I noticed that your questions, drawn exclusively from the Gospel and the Apostle, prove that you either read little or understand little of the Old Testament Scripture. It is covered with such darkness and such prototypes of the future that it requires interpretation of all kinds: the eastern gate, from which the true light rises and through which the high priest enters and leaves, will always be closed (Ezek. 43:1-2, 44:1), and will be opened only to Christ, who has the key of David, who opens - and no one will shut, shuts - and no one will open ( Rev. 3:7). When he opens, you will enter his chamber and say: The king has brought me into his chambers (Song 1:3). Moreover, I was very surprised, by what motives do you, having abandoned the neighboring pure spring, seek the will of such a distant stream of ours, and leaving the waters of Siloam, flowing quietly (Isa. 8: 6), thirst for the waters of Zoar, polluted by the stormy streams of this age? Is there a holy man there, Alethius the presbyter, who, as they say, could, as they say, resolve your questions with a living word, wise and eloquent speech? Or do you perhaps want foreign goods, and, for the sake of a change in food, do you like the garlic seasoning of our dishes? Some people like sweet things, and some find pleasure in bitter things; Those restore the strength of their stomach with sourness, and these keep it salty. I have seen myself that nausea and dizziness are often cured with an antidote called πιχρά, and according to Hippocrates, opposites are cured by opposites. In this case, sweeten our bitterness with its honey; lower into Marah (Ex. 15) the wood of the cross; strengthen the flabbiness of the old man with the vigor of the young man, and then you can sing with joy: how sweet are Your words to my throat! better than honey to my mouth (Ps. 119:103). Why did John send his disciples to the Lord with the question: Are you the one who should come, or should we expect something else? (Matt. 11:3; Luke 7:20), when before he himself spoke about Him: behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)? I have spoken about this subject at some length in my commentaries on Matthew. From the fact that you ask about this, it is clear that you do not have this book at hand. However, in order to answer anything, I find it necessary to briefly state what was said there. Being imprisoned, John sent his disciples in order to, asking on his own behalf, to enlighten them: to teach them - when he was beheaded - to follow the one whom he declared by his question to be a common teacher for all. He could not help but know the one whom he had previously pointed out to the ignorant - about whom he said: he who has a bride is the bridegroom (John 3:29), and - I am not worthy to carry His sandals (Matthew 3:11), and - He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30), and about whom he heard God thundering: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). His words: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect something else? (Matt. 11:3), can have the following meaning: “I know that You are the One who came to take away the sins of the world; but since I have to descend to the underworld, I ask, Will You yourself go there, or is it wicked to believe so about the Son of God, and will You send someone else? I want to know about this so that, having announced You to people on earth, I will also announce You to the underworld, if You only have the power to come there. For You are the One who came to bring out of captivity and free those in chains.” The Lord, understanding his question, answered more with deeds than words, and ordered him to tell John that the blind see, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and that (more importantly) the good news is preached to the poor (Matthew 11:5; Luke 7:22). By the poor we mean those who are poor either in spirit or in property: because in relation to salvation there is no difference between the poor and the rich, but they are still called upon. And when He adds: blessed is he who is not offended because of Me (Matthew 11:6), - he does not reproach John, but his disciples who came before him to Him, saying: why do we and the Pharisees fast a lot, but your disciples do not fast? (Matt. 9:14; Lk. 5:33), and they addressed John with the following words: Rabbi! He who was with you at the Jordan and about whom you testified, behold He baptizes, and everyone comes to Him (John 3:26). By saying this, they expressed their hostility regarding the greatness of the miracles; They were torn by envy: as if someone baptized by John dared to baptize himself, and a much larger crowd flocked to him than had previously flocked to John. But so that the ignorant mob does not decide to dishonor John for this question, He ends his speech with praises to him; He began to speak to the crowd surrounding Him about John: What did you go into the wilderness to see? Is it a cane shaken by the wind? What did you go to see? a person dressed in soft clothes? (Matt. 11:7–8; Luke 7:24–25), etc. The meaning of these words is this: didn’t you then go out into the desert to see a man bending first this way or that, like a reed in the blowing of the winds, who would now doubt the one whom he previously praised, would ask: is he or another the one who has come or is about to come, about whom he previously said: “Behold the Lamb of God?” Since every false preaching pursues selfish goals and seeks human glory, because benefits are obtained through glory: the Lord affirms that he who has clothing made of camel’s hair cannot flatter anyone, that he who eats locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4) cannot seek either wealth or other earthly pleasures; that a strict and harsh life avoids the palaces of kings, which are sought by those who clothe themselves in scarlet, fine linen, silk and soft clothing. And He says that John is not only a prophet who usually predicted the future, but that he is more than a prophet: because the prophets said that He would come, but this one pointed out the one who came, saying: behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29); especially because the advantage of the baptizer was combined with the prophetic dignity in him, so that having said: I need to be baptized by You (Matthew 3:14), he baptized Him not out of consciousness of seniority, but out of obedience characteristic of a disciple, out of fear befitting a servant. And when he asserts that among those born of women there arose no greater than John (Matt. 11:11), it reminds us that He Himself, born of the Virgin, is greater than Him, or that the least of all the angels in heaven is superior to all people on earth. For we are transformed into angels, and not angels into us, as some dream, immersed in a very heavy sleep 39 . This would not have served to praise John if he himself, preaching the baptism of repentance, had not said first, according to the testimony of Scripture: repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). Why, from the day of his preaching, the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Matthew 11:12), so that one born as a man desires to be an angel, and an earthly animal seeks a heavenly dwelling. All the prophets and the law prophesied before John (ibid., v. 13), - not in the sense that in John there was the end of the prophets and the law, but this end was in the one to whom John testified in his preaching. John himself, according to the mysterious saying of Scripture in Malachi (Malachi 4:5), is Elijah, who is to come (Matthew 11:14), - not in the sense that both Elijah and John had the same soul (as the heretics assume), but in the sense that he had the same grace of the Holy Spirit. Spirit, wore a belt like Elijah, lived in the desert like Elijah, suffered persecution from Herodias, just as he endured it from Jezebel; so that, just as the first Elijah appeared as the forerunner of the second, so John welcomed the Lord Savior who was to come in the flesh, not only in the desert, but also in his mother’s womb, and announced him with the joyful movement of his body. What does it mean that it is written in Matthew: a bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench (Matthew 12:20)? To explain this passage, it is necessary to present the whole testimony cited by Matthew from the prophet Isaiah, the words of Isaiah himself (Isaiah 42), according to the translation of the Seventy and according to the Hebrew original, with which Theodotion, Aquila and Symmachus agree. So, of the four evangelists, one Matthew says: but Jesus, having learned, withdrew from there. And a multitude of people followed Him, and He healed them all and forbade them to declare Him, so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled (chapter 42, v. 1 et seq.), who says: Behold, My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom My soul is well pleased. I will put My spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations; He will not contradict, He will not cry, and no one will hear His voice in the streets; he will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, until he brings victory to the court; and the nations will trust in His name (Matthew 12:14–21). Instead, in Isaiah, according to the translation of the Seventy, it is written like this: Behold, My Servant, whose hand I hold, My chosen one, in whom My soul delights. I will put My spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations; He will not cry out, nor lift up His voice, nor let it be heard in the streets; He will not erase a bruised reed, nor will he quench the smoking flax; will carry out judgment according to truth; He will not weaken or faint until He establishes judgment on the earth, and the nations will trust in His name (Isa. 42:1-4). And from Hebrew we translate it like this: “here is my lad (according to some - “slave”), I will accept him; my chosen one, my soul delights in him. I have given my spirit against him: he will proclaim judgment to the nations. He will not cry out, he will not take on a disguise, and his voice will not be heard outside. He will not wipe out broken reeds, and he will not quench the smoking flax. In truth judgment will come. He will not be sad or gloomy until he brings judgment to the earth. And the islands will await his law.” From this it is clear that the Evangelist Matthew was not embarrassed by the authority of the ancient translation, did not abandon the Hebrew original, but, as a Jew of the Jews and the most learned in the law of the Lord, he distributed among the pagans what he read in Hebrew. For if this passage is read as the Seventy Interpreters translated it: Jacob is my servant, whom I hold by the hand, my chosen one, in whom my soul delights, then how will we find that in Jesus was fulfilled what is written about Jacob and Israel? Blessed Matthew did this, as we read, not only in the testimony given, but also in another place: out of Egypt I called my Son (Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1), translated by the Seventy: out of Egypt I called my sons. And this passage obviously does not refer to the Lord the Savior, if you do not read it according to the Hebrew original. For it follows: they sacrificed to the Baals (Hos. 11:1–2). And that in the testimony given in the Gospel the words are missing: he will not weaken and will not be exhausted until judgment is established on the earth (Is. 42:4), this happened, it seems to me, due to the mistake of the first copyist, who, reading the previous thought that ended with the word judgment, took this word - judgment for the end of the subsequent thought, and several words in between, i.e. between court and court, missed. As for the words in Hebrew: “and the islands will trust in his law,” Matthew, paying attention to the meaning rather than to the words, instead of the words - law and islands, he put - name and tongues. And this must be borne in mind not only in relation to the present place, but also in all those cases when the evangelists and the apostle cite evidence from the Old Testament: they followed not the letter, but the meaning, and where the Seventy diverged from the Hebrew, they retained the Hebrew meaning in their speech. So the Savior is called the child of Almighty God according to the economy of the incarnation, with which His sending down to us was connected. The Father speaks to Him in another place: it is not enough that You will be My servant to restore the tribes of Jacob (Isa. 49:6). He is the vine Sorec, which translates as “chosen one.” He is the beloved Son, and in him the soul of God is well pleased (Matthew 3:17): this does not mean that God has a soul, but the word soul expresses the fullness of God’s love. And it is not surprising that God is given a soul if, according to the rules of allegorical speech and for the separateness of ideas, it is said that he has all the members of the human body. And He put His spirit on Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and piety and the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2-3), descending on Him in the form of a dove, about which, as John the Baptist tells about himself, he heard from God the Father: on Whom you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, He is (John 1:33). And the judgment will be announced with the tongue. This is also stated in the psalms: God! Grant to the king Your judgment and to the king's son Your righteousness (Ps. 71:1). And He himself says in the Gospel: for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22). He will not contradict: He is led like a lamb to the slaughter; will not contradict those with whom he speaks. He will not cry out, according to what the Apostle Paul writes: let all cry, and wrath, and grief be put away from you (Eph. 4:31). He will not cry: for Israel does not carry out judgment, but only cries. No one will hear His voice in the streets. For all the glory of the daughter of the King is within (Ps. 44:14); and the narrow and straitened way that leads to life (Matt. 7:14). Therefore, His voice is not heard at the crossroads, along which He boldly walks, guided by wisdom, not deviating onto the broad and spacious path, but condemning this path and condemning it. That is why He did not speak openly to those outside, but in parables. He will not break a bruised reed, says the evangelist; or (as the Seventy translated) he will not erase a bruised reed. Israel must be called a bruised reed, which formerly was a sounding flute and sang the praises of the Lord: for he stumbled on the corner stone, fell on it, and was broken on it. This is why it is said about him: tame, O Lord, the beast in the reeds (Ps. 67:31). And in the book of Joshua (Joshua) one stream is called the watercourse of Canna (Joshua 16:8), i.e. "reed". This stream has turbulent waters, and Israel chose these waters, neglecting the purest streams of the Jordan. Turned with his soul towards Egypt and dreaming of a dirty and swampy country, of melons, onions and other things, of cucumbers and pots of Egyptian meat (Numbers 11:5), he is very rightly called in Isaiah a bruised reed, which pierces the hand of anyone who wants to lean on it. For all the actions of the one who, after the coming of the Lord Savior, continues to adhere to the dead letter of the Jews, abandoning the spirit of its interpretation in the Gospel, bear ulcers. And it will not quench the smoking flax, i.e. a people gathered from pagans, who, having extinguished the flame of the natural law, are engulfed in error, like smoke and impenetrable darkness, very acrid and harmful to the eyes. Not only did he not extinguish it and turn it into ashes, but on the contrary, from a small and almost extinguished spark he fanned a great fire, so that the whole world is blazing with the fire of the Lord Savior, which he came to bring down to earth with the desire that it would kindle in everyone (Luke 12:49). What we find allegorical in this place, we noticed briefly in the interpretations of Matthew. He, who will not break a bruised reed and will not quench the smoking flax, will bring forth judgment in truth - He, whose judgments are true, are all righteous in themselves (Ps. 18:10), may he be justified in all his words and overcome when he judges (Ps. 50:6); and the light of his preaching, not destroyed or darkened by anyone’s deceit, will shine in the world for so long, until judgment is established on earth, and what is written is fulfilled: thy will be done, as it is not in heaven, on earth (Matthew 6:10). And the nations will trust in His name, or the islands will trust in His law. For just as the islands, although they suffer from whirlpools, storms and frequent bad weather, are not destroyed, like the gospel church, which lies with its strong foundation on the rock (Matthew 7:24-25; Luke 6:48): so the churches, trusting in the law and in the name of the Lord Savior, say through the mouth of Isaiah: This is a strong city, the city is not at war (Isa. 27:3). What is the meaning of what was said by the Evangelist Matthew: if anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself (Matthew 16:24)? What is this selflessness? Or how does he who follows the Savior deny himself? In the third book of my commentaries on Matthew, I briefly spoke about it this way: whoever puts off the old man with his deeds denies himself, saying: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20) - he bears his cross and is crucified to the world. For whom the world is crucified, he follows the crucified Lord. To what was said then we can now add the following. After Jesus announced to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, Peter, taking hold of Him, began to challenge Him and say: Be merciful to yourself, Lord! may this not happen to you! Having turned, He says to Peter: get away from Me, Satan! you are a temptation to me! because you think not about the things of God, but about the things of men (Matthew 16:21–23). Brought to the level of horror that is natural to man, he fears the suffering of the Lord. And meanwhile, as much as he was afraid when he heard the words - to suffer a lot and be killed, he should have rejoiced just as much when he heard others - and on the third day to rise again, and to soften the sorrow of suffering with the joy of the resurrection. Why, having reproached him for fear, the Lord addressed his speech to all the disciples, or, as Mark describes, he called the people with his disciples, or, according to Luke, he said to everyone: if anyone wants to come after Me, deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (cf. Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). The meaning of this admonition is this: confession of faith in God does not promise either consolation or security. He who believes in Me must shed his blood. For whoever loses his soul in this world will save it in the life to come (Matthew 16:25; cf. John 12:25). He who believes in Christ bears his cross daily and denies himself. The former dissolute, turning to chastity, denies intemperance with moderation. The timid and fearful, having strengthened his courage, does not recognize the former in himself. A crooked person, if he follows the truth, denies injustice. A fool denies foolishness if he confesses Christ, God's power and God's wisdom! Knowing this, not only during persecution and with the inevitability of martyrdom, but also in all the incidents of life, in deeds, in thoughts, in words, let us deny ourselves as we were before, and show ourselves as we were reborn in Christ. For for this purpose the Lord was crucified on the cross, so that we, who believed in Him and died to sin, would be crucified with Him, and say, as the apostle taught: I have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:19) and I do not want to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14). He who was crucified with Christ strips off the principalities and powers, and triumphs over them on the tree (Col. 2:15). Why is it that in the Gospel of Matthew, in the image of those who would believe in the Lord and be crucified with Him, Simon of Cyrene appears to be carrying his cross - a cross that, according to other evangelists, He himself had previously carried. What is the meaning of the words quoted from the same Matthew: woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse at the breast in those days. And - pray that your flight will not happen in winter or on Saturday (Matthew 24:19-20)? These words obviously stand in connection with the previous ones. When the Gospel of Christ has been preached to all nations, and the end comes, and they see the abomination of desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place: then, it is commanded to those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything from his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes (we talked about this in more detail in the interpretations of the same Matthew). After this it is added: woe to those who are pregnant and to those who nurse at the breast in those days. What days are these? - In those days when the abomination of desolation will stand in the holy place. There is no doubt that the coming of the Antichrist is literally predicted here, when the cruelty of persecution will force people to flee, and the running of pregnant and breastfeeding children is very slow. Some, however, think to see here an indication of the war of Titus and Vespasian against the Jews and especially the siege of Jerusalem. Winter and the Sabbath are explained in the sense that there would not be a need to flee at a time when the severity of the cold in the fields and desert places does not allow those running to take refuge, and the decree on the Sabbath either makes them lawbreakers if they flee, or subjects their enemies to the sword if they keep the peace of the Sabbath and the commandments. But we, hearing the words of the Lord Savior: let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let us lift our eyes to those mountains about which it is written: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where my help will come (Ps. 120:1); and in another place: its foundation is on the holy mountains (Ps. 87:2); and again: the mountains are around Jerusalem, and the Lord is around His people (Ps. 124:2); and - the city standing on the top of the mountain cannot hide (Matthew 5:14), and throwing off the peel of the letter from its feet, and going up the mountain with Moses barefoot, we say: I will go and look at this great phenomenon (Exodus 3:3). Then we will understand that the pregnant ones are souls who have conceived from the seed of the teaching and the word of God the firstfruits of faith, and who speak to Isaiah: out of fear for your sake, O Lord, in the womb you received and suffered, and gave birth to the spirit of your salvation, which you created on the earth ( Isa. 26:18). For just as the seed in the womb takes on an image little by little, and is not considered a person until the mixed elements receive certain forms and form members: so the feeling conceived by the soul, if it does not manifest itself in deeds, is still in the womb, and quickly perishes from premature birth when it sees the abomination of desolation standing in the church, and Satan transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14 ). The apostle speaks of these fruits of the womb: my children, for whom I am again in the pains of birth, until Christ is formed in you (Gal. 4:19). Understanding in a mysterious sense, I believe that the same are the wives about whom the same apostle wrote: the woman, being deceived, fell into crime; however, he will be saved through childbearing if he continues in faith and love and in holiness with chastity (1 Tim. 2:14–15). If at a certain time someone has given birth from the seed of the word of God, then it is necessary that what is born grows, and first of all be fed with the milk of infancy (1 Cor. 3:2), until it becomes capable of solid food and reaches the mature age of fulfilling Christ (Eph. 4:13). For everyone who eats milk is not versed in matters of righteousness, because he is still a child. Therefore, souls that have not yet given birth or have not yet been able to raise what was born, when they see the appearance of heretical preaching in the church, are immediately tempted and perish; and in times of troubles and persecution they are unable to resist, especially if they have not practiced good deeds and have not followed the path that is Christ (John 14:6). The Apostle speaks of this abomination of heretical and ungodly teaching, that the man of unrighteousness and adversary will exalt himself above everything called God or that is holy, so that in the church of God he will sit as God, declaring himself to be God (2 Thess. 2:4). His coming, according to the action of Satan (Ibid., v. 9); and he will destroy what he conceives through premature birth. And what is born will not be able to reach adolescence and adulthood. Why should we pray to the Lord that at that time, when faith is only in its infancy and age is still ongoing, winter does not come, about which it is written: winter has already passed; the rain has passed (Song. 2:11), - pray that we do not become numb in inaction, but when shipwreck threatens, we awaken the sleeping Lord and say to Him: Teacher, save us, we are perishing (Matthew 8:25). What does what is said in the Gospel of Luke mean: but they did not receive Him there, because He appeared to be traveling to Jerusalem (Luke 9:53)? Hastening to Jerusalem so that the time of taking it away (from the world) would finally come, to celebrate the Passover, about which I said: I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering (Luke 22:15), to drink the cup about which he says: Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave Me (John 18:11), and to confirm all my teaching with the cross, in accordance with what is written: when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me (John 12:32), - the Lord confirmed his face to go to Jerusalem. For those who hasten voluntarily to suffer need firmness and courage. Why also to Ezekiel, who said: Son of man, you too will live among the scorpions; do not be afraid of them (Ezek. 2:6), God says: “I have established your face, I have given you your face of brass, and your forehead of iron” (Ezek. 3:8); so that if the hammer of the whole earth were to rise against him, it would resist like the hardest anvil, and would erase this hammer, about which it is written: how the hammer of the whole earth is broken and crushed (Jer. 50:23)? And he sent messengers, i.e. 40 angels before His face (Luke 9:52). For it was right that the Son of God should be served by angels. Or the apostles are called angels here: because the forerunner of the Lord John is called an angel (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:10). When they entered the village of Samaria to prepare for him (where to stay), he was not received there: because He looked like one traveling to Jerusalem. The Samaritans and Jews were in sworn enmity with each other, and harboring hatred for all nations, they rebelled against each other with particular fury, because they disputed each other's possession of the law; They persecuted themselves mutually to such an extent that, after the Jews returned from Babylonia, the Samaritans always prevented them from building the church. And when they themselves wanted to take part in the construction of the church together with the Jews, the latter answered: do not build you a house with us for our God (1 Ezra 4:3). And the Pharisees, with the goal of deeply offending the Lord, reproached Him: are you not a demon and a Samaritan (John 8:48)? Then, in the parable of the traveler from Jerusalem to Jericho, the Samaritan is presented as something extraordinary and a miracle, that, being evil, he did good (Lk. 10:30–35); and at the well the Samaritan woman is credited with the words: Samaritans do not touch Jews (John 4:9). So the Samaritans, seeing that the Lord was coming to Jerusalem, i.e. to their enemies (which they heard from His disciples, who came to prepare a place for him to spend the night), they learned that He was a Jew; and therefore, as a Jew and a stranger to them, moreover, going to their enemies, they did not want to accept Him. However, we have the opportunity to understand this in another sense, namely: it pleased the Lord that the Samaritans would not accept Him. Because he was in a hurry to go to Jerusalem, suffer there and shed blood; and the acceptance of Him by the Samaritans and the teaching of that people, occupying Him, would have induced Him to postpone the day of suffering which He was going to accept. Why does He say in another place: I came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). And He commanded the apostles: do not enter the city of the Samaritans (Matthew 10:5): because He wanted to take away from the Jews every pretext for persecuting Him, so that they would not say: let us crucify Him, for He is in connection with our enemies and enemies. So He appeared to be traveling to Jerusalem. According to another kind of interpretation, the Samaritans did not accept Him because He was in a hurry to enter Jerusalem. It was the will of the Lord that He should not be accepted. But the apostles, who lived in the law, knew from it only about such justice, according to which an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was required; they intend to avenge the insult, to follow the example of Elijah, at whose voice the fire devoured two military Pentecostals; and therefore they say to the Lord: Do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and destroy them, just as Elijah did (Luke 9:54)? They say well: if you want, we will say; because Elijah also said: if I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven on you (2 Kings 1:10). So, for the words of the apostles to have power, it must be the will of the Lord. Without His command, the apostles would have spoken in vain for fire to come down on them. In other words, the apostles seemed to be saying this: if for insulting the servant, Elijah, fire came down from heaven, and the flames devoured not the Samaritans, but even the Jews: then shouldn’t the flames even more rush towards the wicked Samaritans for the contempt shown to the Son of God? But the Lord, who came not to judge, but to save, and not with power, but with humility, not in the glory of the Father, but in human humiliation, on the contrary, reproached them that they had forgotten His teaching and the goodness of the Gospel, about which He spoke: whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other to him (Matthew 5:39); and - love your enemies (Luke 6:27). You asked me another question from the Gospel of Luke: who is this unrighteous builder who received praise from the mouth of the Lord (Luke 16:1ff.)? Wanting to know the reason for the question and the place that gave rise to it, I opened the book of the Gospel and, among other things, found that when publicans and sinners approached the Savior to listen to Him, the Pharisees and scribes grumbled at this, saying: Why does He receive sinners and eat with them? (Luke 15:2). He answered them with a parable about a hundred sheep and the loss of one of them, which, having been found, the shepherd carried on his shoulders. With what thought the parable was proposed, He immediately pointed out: I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent (Luke 15:7). Having then presented the parable of ten drachmas and the loss of one of them, He ended this one in the same way. So, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10). Then He offered a third parable about a man who had two sons and divided property between them. When the youngest of them, having squandered his property, began to endure poverty and eat chaff, pig feed: then, upon returning to his father, he was accepted by him. When the elder brother was jealous of this, his father told him that he should rejoice and be merry: because his brother was dead and came to life, he was lost and was found. He spoke these three parables against the Pharisees and scribes, who did not want to allow repentance for sinners and the salvation of the souls of tax collectors. He said, the evangelist then says, to his disciples, and spoke, without any doubt, a parable, just as before to the scribes and Pharisees. With this parable He exhorted the disciples to show mercy, and said, only in other words: forgive, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37), so that you with a clear conscience ask in the Lord's Prayer: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). What kind of parable is this that convinces the disciples to show mercy? One man was rich and had a steward (Luke 16:1), or a steward: for this is the meaning of όιχονόμος. The bailiff (villicus) is actually the ruler of the village; why is it called villicus from villa (village). And the όιχονόμος manages both money and village goods, and everything that the master owns. Why is Xenophon’s beautiful book called όιχονόμιχός, since (according to Tullius’ interpretation) it teaches not about village farming, but about managing a whole house. So the above-mentioned steward was accused before his master of wasting his property. Calling him, this one said: what am I hearing about you? give an account of your management, for you can no longer manage. The manager said to himself: what should I do? my lord takes away the stewardship of the house from me; I can’t dig, I’m ashamed to ask; I know what to do so that they will accept me into their homes when I am removed from managing the house. And calling his master’s debtors, each one separately, he said to the first: How much do you owe my master? He said: one hundred measures of oil. And he said to him: take your receipt and sit down quickly, write: fifty. Then he said to another: how much do you owe? He answered: one hundred measures of wheat. And he said to him: take your receipt and write: eighty. And the lord praised the unfaithful steward for acting wisely; for the sons of this age are more perceptive in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you: make friends for yourself with unrighteous wealth, so that when you become poor, they will receive you into eternal abodes. He who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and he who is unfaithful in a little is also unfaithful in much. So, if you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with what is true? And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be zealous for one and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they laughed at Him. I have given the entire text of the parable so as not to look for its meaning elsewhere and not to try to point out any famous persons in the parable, but to interpret it precisely as a parable (parabolam), i.e. similarity, which is called so because παραβαλλεται, i.e. serves as a likeness to another, and like a shadow precedes the truth. So, if the steward of the unrighteous mammon deserves praise from the master himself for extracting truth for himself from unrighteous acquisitions, and if the master, having suffered losses, praises the prudence of the steward, who, although he deceived the master, acted wisely towards himself: then isn’t it all the more natural for Christ, who cannot endure any loss and is disposed to mercy, to praise his disciples if they are merciful to those who have believe in him? Having spoken the parable, He added: make friends with unrighteous wealth. Mammon, not in Hebrew, but in the Syriac language, is the name for wealth, because it is gathered by untruth. So, if untruth, well used, turns into truth: then how much more will the divine word, in which there is no untruth and which was entrusted to the apostles, bring those who rule over it to heaven, if it is used properly? Why does he continue: faithful in small things, i.e. in the flesh, and will be faithful in many things, i.e. in the spiritual. He who is unrighteous in small things, so that he does not allow his brothers to enjoy what God has created for everyone, will also be unrighteous in dividing spiritual treasures - he will distribute the teachings of the Lord, in accordance not with the needs of individuals, but according to partiality for one or another. If, he says, you mismanage the riches of the flesh, the riches that perish, then who will entrust to you the riches of the teaching of God, true and eternal riches? And if you were not faithful in what was alien (and what is alien to us is everything that belongs to this age) were not faithful, who will trust you in what is truly intended for man? By this He reproaches the love of money, and says that he who loves money cannot love God. So the apostles should despise money if they want to love God. Therefore, the scribes and Pharisees, who were lovers of money, realizing that the parable was spoken about them, laughed at him: because they preferred the carnal, as true and present, to the spiritual, as future and, as it were, doubtful. Theophilus, after the Apostle Peter, the seventh bishop of the Antiochian Church, who left us a monument of intelligence by combining the sayings of all four evangelists into one creation, spoke about this parable in his interpretations. “A rich man who has a steward or steward is an omnipotent God, who has no one superior to him in wealth. Its steward is Paul, who studied the sacred scriptures at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) and accepted the law of God into his charge. When he began to persecute, imprison, kill believers in Christ and squander all the property of his Lord, the Lord reminded him of his duties: Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting Me? It is difficult for you to go against the pricks (Acts 9:4–5). And he said in his heart: What should I do? From a teacher and supervisor, I must turn into a student and worker. I can't dig. For I see that all the commandments of the law, which fertilized the earth, have lost their power; and the law and the prophets ended with John the Baptist. I'm ashamed to ask. How can I, a former teacher of the Jews, begin to ask, as if for alms, the teaching of salvation and faith from the pagans and the disciple Ananias! I will do what I find useful for myself, so that after I am removed from my administration, Christians will accept me into their homes. And so he began to teach those who previously lived in the law and believed in Christ so much that they thought they could be justified in the law that the law was abolished, the prophets had passed away, and what was previously considered useful should now be considered rubbish (Phil. 3:8). So he called two of his many debtors. First he called for the proper one hundred measures of oil, i.e. those who were gathered from the pagans and were primarily in need of God's mercy. Instead of the number one hundred (full and perfect), he forced them to write fifty, a number proper for repentance, corresponding to the anniversary and the famous Gospel parable, in which five hundred denarii are forgiven to one and fifty denarii to another. To others he called the Jewish people, who ate the wheat of God's commandments and owed him hundreds. This he forced to make eighty out of a hundred, i.e. to believe in the resurrection of the Lord, which is understood by the eighth day, but is perfectly expressed by eight tens, and from the legal Sabbath to the one from the Sabbaths. This is why the Lord praises him, because he did well, and for the sake of his salvation, he changed the severity of the law into the mercy of the Gospel. You may ask: why is he called an unrighteous builder, who acted on the basis of the law given by God? “He was an unrighteous builder who gave everything, but did not give to everyone what was due, who believed in the Father, but persecuted the Son, knew Almighty God, but denied the Holy Spirit. So the Apostle Paul, having broken the law, acted more prudently than those who were once sons of light, who by keeping the law lost Christ, the true light of God the Father. How Ambrose of Milan understood this place, you can read in his interpretations. I could not find an explanation for this parable of Origen and Didimov; and I don’t know for sure whether it died over time, or whether they didn’t write about it at all. It seems to me, in accordance with the previous interpretation, that we should acquire friendships from the unrighteous mammon, but not the poor, but those who could accept us into their homes and eternal shelters: so that by giving them little, we would receive back a lot from them, by giving someone else’s, we would receive our own, and sow for a blessing in order to reap a blessing: for whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly (2 Cor. 9:6). In what sense should we understand what is read in the Epistle to the Romans: for hardly anyone will die for a righteous person; Is it possible that someone will decide to die for a benefactor (Rom. 5:7)? Regarding this testimony, which is not understood, two heresies blaspheme with equal impiety, although with a difference in error. Marcion, who represents God and the Creator of the law and the prophets as righteous, and the God of the Gospel and the apostles as good, whose Son he considers Christ, introduces two gods - one righteous and the other good, and asserts that either no one would want to die for the righteous, or very few would decide, but for the good, i.e. Countless martyrs appeared for Christ. But Arius appropriates the title of righteous to Christ, about whom it is said: God! grant Thy judgment to the king and Thy righteousness to the king's son (Ps. 71:1); and He himself speaks about Himself in the Gospel: for the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), as I hear, so I judge (Ibid., v. 30). And he refers the name good to the Father, about whom the Son himself declares: no one is good except God alone (Luke 18:19). But although he had hitherto been able to look for roundabout paths for his blasphemy, at further conclusions he stumbled and fell. For how could it be said: who dares to die for the Father and who will hardly die for the Son, when so much martyrdom was shed for the name of Christ? Anyone who explains this passage can simply say that in the old law, in which righteousness reigns, there were very few who shed their blood; and in the new covenant, in which goodness and mercy reign, countless martyrs appeared. But by the very fact that the apostle says: perhaps someone will decide to die, and with hesitation expresses the thought that someone might be found who would dare to die for the Gospel, he thereby shows that the passage should not be understood in this way, but that its meaning should be clarified from what precedes and what follows. Paul, saying that he rejoices in tribulations, because from tribulation comes patience, from patience experience, from experience hope, and hope does not disappoint, since he considers the promise to be certain on the basis that the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:3-5), in accordance with what God said through the prophet: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh (Joel. 2:28), - Paul, saying this, is amazed at the goodness of Christ, who was willing to die for the ungodly, and the weak, and sinners, and to die at an acceptable time, about which he himself says: at an acceptable time I heard You, and on the day of salvation I helped You (Isa. 49:8), and also: behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). This was the time when everyone sinned, they became equally vain, there was no one who did good, not even one (Ps. 13:3). So to die for the wicked is incredible goodness and unheard-of mercy: for for the righteous and for the good, with the general horror of death, hardly anyone sheds his blood. From time to time it may happen that someone dares to die for a just and good cause. The love of God that He had for us is especially proven by this, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), and was taken from the land of the living, and for the crimes of My people suffered execution, and bore our sins, and gave up His soul to death, and was numbered with the evildoers (Isa. 53); and this is so that he may make us wicked, and weak, and sinners pious, strong and righteous. Some interpret it this way: if He died for us wicked and sinners, then shouldn’t we, without any hesitation, die for Christ, the righteous and good? We also do not think that by righteous one thing is meant, and by good another, and that these names actually designate any person; but they denote a completely just and good cause, for which, although with difficulty, a person may at times shed his blood. What does the apostle want to say when writing to the Romans: but sin, taking occasion from the commandment, produced in me every desire (Rom. 7:8)? Let us present the passage in its entirety, and, with the help of Christ, examining its particulars, we will show simply how it appears to us, without imposing on you this or that understanding, but briefly explaining our own opinion. What shall we say? Is it really sin from the law? No way. But I knew sin no other way than through the law. For I would not understand desire if the law did not say: do not desire. But sin, taking occasion from the commandment, produced in me every desire: for without the law sin is dead. I once lived without law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; and thus the commandment given for life served me to death, because sin, taking the occasion from the commandment, deceived me and killed me with it. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. So, has what is good become deadly to me? No way; but sin, which turns out to be sin because through good it causes death to me, so that sin becomes extremely sinful through the commandment. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For I don’t understand what I’m doing: because I don’t do what I want, but what I hate, I do. If I do what I do not want, then I agree with the law that it is good, and therefore it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that lives in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; because the desire for good is in me, but I don’t find it to do it. I don’t do the good that I want, but I do the evil that I don’t want. If I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me. So I find a law that when I want to do good, evil is present to me. For according to the inner man I delight in the law of God; but in my members I see another law, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:7–25). – Medicine is not the cause of death if it indicates deadly poisons, although evil people use these poisons as an instrument of death when they kill themselves or plot against the lives of their enemies; so is the law. It was given to indicate the poison of sins, and in those forms, so that the person who was making bad use of his freedom, who until that time had rushed imprudently and slid along the cliffs, could be restrained by the reins of the law and taught to march orderly. This is so that we serve in the renewal of the spirit, and not in the decay of the letter, i.e. We lived under the commandment, and did not say as before, in the likeness of foolish animals: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die (1 Cor. 15:32). If, while there is a law (which teaches us what we should do and what not to do), due to our depravity and intemperance, we act contrary to the established law, it seems as if the law serves as the cause of sin: because when it prohibits desire, it seems as if the law serves as the cause of sin: because when it prohibits desire, it seems as if in some way arouses it. The Greeks have a saying: what is permissible is not so desirable. Therefore, on the contrary, prohibiting something incites desire. Why does Tullius assert that Solon did not impose punishments on parricides among the Athenians so that it would not seem as if he was not so much prohibiting as reminding them of it. So, for those who despise and trample on the precepts of the law, the law is a reason for crimes: by forbidding them to do what they should not do, it imposes on them the bonds of commandments, while sinning in the absence of the law, they were not subject to condemnation of crimes. When we say this, we mean the law given by Moses. But since it is further said: the law of God, and the law of the flesh, and that which is in the spirit, warring against the law of our mind and captivating us with the law of sin, and thus the Scripture tells me at the same time about four laws, mutually arguing with each other: then I find it not superfluous to examine those kinds of law that are mentioned in the Holy Scripture. The law is the law given through Moses, as it is written in the Epistle to the Galatians: and all who are established by the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually do all that is written in the book of the law (Gal. 3:10); and again, in the same epistle: the law was given after because of transgressions, until the time of the coming of the seed to which the promise relates, and was given through Angels, by the hand of a mediator (Gal. 3:19); and again, therefore, the law was for us a guide to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith; after the coming of faith, we are no longer under the guidance of a teacher. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (ibid., vv. 24-26). The apostle also calls history, which does not contain commandments, but tells about what was done, by law. Tell me, he says, who want to be under the law: do you not listen to the law? For it is written: Abraham had two sons, one by a bondwoman, and the other by a freewoman. But he who is of a slave is born according to the flesh; and he who is of the free woman is of the promise (Gal. 4:21–23). The psalms are also called law: but let the word that is written in their law be fulfilled: they hated Me without cause (John 15:25; sn. Ps. 68:5). The Apostle also calls the prophecy of Isaiah the law: in the law it is written: with other tongues and other mouths will I speak to this people; but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord (1 Cor. 14:21; sn. Isa. 28:11–12). So I found it written in Isaiah according to the Hebrew original and Aquila’s translation. Even the mysterious meaning of the scriptures is called law: for we know that the law is spiritual (Rom. 7:14). But besides all this, the same apostle teaches that the natural law is written in our hearts. For when the pagans, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves: they show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience testifies (Rom. 2:14-15). The law that is written on the heart is binding on all nations, and there is no person who does not know this law. Therefore the whole world is under sin, and all people are transgressors of the law; and therefore the judgment of God is righteous, Who writes on the heart of the human race: what you do not want for yourself, do not do to another. For who does not know that murder, adultery and all lust are evil for the very reason that no one desires this for themselves? If anyone did not know that this is evil, he would not grieve when it threatens him. Through this natural law, Cain also recognized his sin, saying: My punishment is more than can be endured (Gen. 4:13). Both Adam and Eve recognized their sin, and for this reason they hid under the tree of life. In the same way, Pharaoh, even before the law was given through Moses, prompted by natural law, confesses his crimes and says: The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are guilty (Ex. 9:27). Adolescence does not know this law, childhood does not know it, and sinning without a commandment, there is no accuser of sin from the law. The child scolds his father and mother, beats his parents: but since the law of wisdom is not given to him, sin is dead in him. And the commandment came to him, i.e. the time has come for understanding, demanding good and encouraging us to move away from evil - sin will come to life, and it will die and be responsible for sin. Thus it happens that the time of understanding, in which we learn the commandments of God, leading to life, produces death in us, as quickly as we act with negligence; and wisdom itself gives us an opportunity for deception and fall, and leads to death. This is not because understanding is a sin (the law of reason is holy, righteous and good), but because understanding of sins and virtues gives birth to sin in me; so until I understood, I did not know about the existence of sin. Thus it happened that what was given to me as good changed through my fault into evil; and (speaking hyperbolically and using a new word to express my thoughts) sin, which - while I still had no meaning - was sinless, through the violation of the commandment became sinful in me. Let us first consider what kind of lust this law speaks of: Thou shalt not covet. Others think that here, of course, is the well-known commandment set out in the ten words: do not covet... everything that your neighbor has (Deut. 5:21). And we think that wish signifies all movements of the soul - whether we grieve or rejoice, whether we are afraid, or whether we passionately desire something. And the apostle, a chosen vessel, whose body was the temple of the Holy Spirit and who said: are you looking for proof of whether Christ speaks in me? (2 Cor. 13:3). And elsewhere: Christ has redeemed us (Gal. 3:13), and also: it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20), - and the apostle speaks (in the place in question) not about himself, but about the one who wants to repent after sins; and under the guise of himself he describes the weakness of human nature, which endures a continuous struggle between two people, internal and external. The inner man sympathizes with the written and natural law: because this law is good, and holy, and righteous, and spiritual. But the external man says: I am carnal, sold to sin. For I do not understand what I do: because I do not do what I want, but what I hate, I do (Rom. 7:14-15). If the outer man does what he does not want and does what he hates, by this he shows that the commandment is good, and that it is not he who does evil, but sin living in his lust, i.e. bodily weaknesses and those movements of lust that are innate in the human body for the sake of children and offspring, but turn into sin as soon as they deviate from their goal. Let everyone look into himself, and like an impartial judge, weigh his vicious excitement: he will see how he speaks in his speech, thinks in his thoughts, feels in the movements of his body what he does not want. I don’t say - he does (what he doesn’t want), so that it doesn’t seem like I’m blaming the holy men about whom it is written: this man was blameless, just and fearing God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). And about Zechariah and Elizabeth it is said: both of them were righteous before God, walking according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly (Luke 1:6). There is also a commandment to the apostles: therefore be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). The Lord would never have commanded this to the apostles if he had not known that man can be perfect. Should we understand this in such a way that he who deviates from everything evil shows by this his correction and transition from the errors of childhood and the vices of a voluptuous age to a better life and to virtues; and that the righteousness which Scripture commends in Zechariah and Elizabeth is something external, but concupiscence, which is said to now dwell in our members, is at work within us. And the apostles, not as children, but as people of mature age, are commanded to achieve perfection, which, according to our conviction, is a property of perfect age. In saying this, we do not flatter vices, but follow the scriptures, which testify that there is no man without sin, but God has concluded everyone under sin (Gal. 3:22), in order to have mercy on everyone, except the only One who committed no sin, and no lie was found in His mouth (Is. 53:9). Why does Scripture say through the mouth of Solomon that it is impossible to find traces of the way of the serpent on the rock (Proverbs 30:19). And the Lord says about Himself: behold, the prince of this world comes, and will find nothing in Me (John 14:30), i.e. He will not find the work of his hands or the trace of his own. Therefore, we are commanded not to reproach a person who turns from his sins and not to disdain the Egyptian: because we ourselves were once in Egypt, and built cities for Pharaoh from clay and bricks (Deut. 23:7); and they themselves were led into Babylon, captive by the law of sin that dwells in our members. And now, in moments of despair and sincere recognition that every person is caught in the snares of the devil, the apostle, as well as the person on whose behalf the apostle speaks, turning his gaze to himself, thanks the Savior for redeeming him with His blood, washing away his impurities with baptism, putting on him with the new clothes of Christ, and having killed the old man, giving birth to him as a new man, who says: poor man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:24–25), who freed me from the body of death. Whoever does not agree that the apostle in his own person speaks about others, let him explain how Daniel, known to us as a righteous man, seems to speak about himself when he prays for others: we have sinned, we have acted lawlessly, we have acted wickedly, we have persisted and departed from Your commandments and from Your statutes; and they did not listen to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, and to our nobles, and to our fathers, and to all the people of the land. You, Lord, have righteousness, but we have shame on our faces (Dan. 9:5–7). Likewise, the well-known words of the thirty-first psalm: but I revealed my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my crimes to the Lord,” and You took away from me the guilt of my sin. For this reason, every righteous person will pray to You at the time of need (Ps. 31:5-6), not befitting David, a righteous man and (to put it simply) a prophet, but a sinner. When the righteous man poured out such a prayer of repentance on his behalf, he was honored to hear from God: I will admonish you, I will guide you on the path you should follow; I will guide you, My eye is over you (ibid., v. 8). In the same way, in the thirty-seventh psalm, which is written in remembrance, since it teaches that we must always remember our sins and bring repentance, we read words of this kind: there is not a whole place in my flesh from Thy wrath; there is no peace in my bones from my sins, for my iniquities have gone beyond my head, like a heavy burden they have weighed me down, my wounds stink and fester from my madness. I am bent and completely drooping (Ps. 37:4-7). This entire passage of the apostle, in connection with the previous and subsequent ones, as well as his entire letter to the Romans, is covered in extreme darkness; and if I wanted to explain everything, I would need to write not one, but many books. Why does the Apostle Paul write in the same letter to the Romans: I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers, who are my relatives according to the flesh, that is, the Israelites, to whom belong adoption and glory and covenants and laws and worship and promises; theirs and the fathers, and from them Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever, amen (Rom. 9:3–5)? Indeed, the question is natural - how does the apostle, who said before: who will separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? and again: for I am confident that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35, 38-39), now confirms under an oath, and says: I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bears witness to me in Holy Spirit, what is great sadness for me and constant torment of my heart: I would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers, relatives to me according to the flesh, etc.? If his love for God is such that neither the fear of death, nor the hope of life, nor persecution, nor hunger, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor the sword can separate him from love - and if the angels, and the principalities, and the present, or the future, and all the powers of heaven, as well as the height, and the depth, and all creation together rose up against him (which in no case can be), still did not separate him from the love of God that he has for Jesus Christ: then What kind of change is this, what kind of unheard of calculation is this - out of love for Christ, not wanting to have Christ? And in case of our disbelief in him, he swears, affirms in the name of Christ and calls on the Holy Spirit as a witness to his conscience, that he has sorrow that is not light and casual, but great and incredible - to have a sorrow in his heart, not the kind that strikes for an hour and passes, but lies on his heart continuously. What does this sadness depend on? What is this grief about? He wishes to be excommunicated from Christ and to perish, so that others may be saved. If we pay attention to the words of Moses, who prayed to God for the Jewish people and said: forgive them their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book, in which You wrote (Ex. 32:32), we will see that both Moses and Paul have the same love for the flock entrusted to them. For the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. But the hireling, when he sees the wolf coming, runs away, because the sheep are not his (John 10:11–12). The words: I would like to be excommunicated from Christ express the same thing as blot me out from Your book, in which You wrote. For those who are blotted out from the book of the living and are not included with the righteous, they are also separated from the Lord. At the same time, pay attention to how great the apostle’s love for Christ is, if he wants to die for Him, and die alone, if only the entire human race would believe in Him. For whoever loses his life for Christ will save it (Matthew 10:39). He takes an example for himself from the forty-third Psalm: but for Your sake they kill us every day; they count us as sheep doomed to the slaughter (Ps. 43:23). So the apostle desires to perish in the flesh, so that others may be saved in the spirit; desires to shed his blood to save the souls of many. And that excommunication sometimes has a meaning equivalent to slaughter, this can be proven by many evidence from the Old Testament. And so that we do not consider his grief light and the cause of his grief unimportant, he adds and says: for my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh. As soon as he calls them relatives and brothers in the flesh, this shows that they are strangers to him in spirit. To which, he says, adoption belongs. This is expressively called in Greek by the word - ύιο ϧ εσία (“sonhood”). The Lord once spoke about them: Israel is My son, My firstborn (Exodus 4:22), and I have raised and raised up sons (Isaiah 1:2), and now the foreigners say that they are flattering before me (Psalm 17:46). To whom be glory, because out of all nations they were chosen to be the special people of God; and their covenants - one in the letter, the other in the spirit, so that having first served in the flesh, observing the rites of the law that was abolished, they then served in the spirit, fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel, which has meaning for all times. And the law; – this applies to both the Old and New Testaments. And worship, i.e. true religion. And the promises: for what was promised to the fathers was fulfilled on the sons. And (most importantly) from them Christ, born of the Virgin Mary. And so that we know who this Christ is, he unites the reasons for his sorrow in one word: God who is over all, blessed forever, amen. And He, such and so great, was not accepted by those from whose tribe he was born! Nevertheless, he praised the justice of the trial, so that it would not appear that he was dissatisfied with the judgment of God over his relatives and brothers, and found it severe or excessive. So he grieves why there is now so much evil in those in whom there was previously so much good. In what sense is it necessary to understand what was written by the same apostle to the Colossians: let no one deceive you through self-willed humility and the ministry of angels, 41 intruding into what he has not seen, being foolishly puffed up with his carnal mind and not holding fast to the head, from which the whole body, being united and held together by joints and bonds, grows with the growth of God (Col. 2:18-19 ) etc.? And here I also repeat what I often said - that Paul said: if you are ignorant in word, but not in understanding - not out of humility, but out of true conviction. For language does not express deep and secret feelings; and although (the apostle) himself is aware that he must speak, he cannot convey this to someone else’s ear with appropriate speech, and despite the fact that in natural language he was the most eloquent (like a Jew of the Jews, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, a man most learned in the law), despite this, wanting to speak out, he is incomprehensible. And if this is found in his own writings in Greek, which he learned from an early age, being raised in Tarsus of Cilia: then what can we say about the Latins, who, trying to convey his thoughts word for word, make them even darker, and, as if with overgrown grass, drown out the abundant field? So, I will try to reveal his thoughts by παραϕραστιχ ϖ ς (periphrasis) and with the threads of intertwined speech to give the proper order and connection, so that with a simple arrangement the threads of words will be unraveled and the fabric of the apostolic speech will be secured with the appropriate weft. Let no one defeat you (nemo vos superet), i.e. let no one receive a reward against you: for the word χαταδραδευέτω in Greek expresses when someone, during a competition at the games, either through the malice of the games manager or through the intrigues of the overseers, loses his next reward (δραδείον) and victory. There are many words that the simply expressed apostle uses in relation to the usage of his city and province. Of these (for example), we can point out some: it means very little to me how you judge me or how other people judge me (1 Cor. 4:3), i.e. α ̓ πό α ̓ ν ϧ ρωπα ̓ νης ήμέρας I speak according to human reasoning (Rom. 6:19), i.e. α ̓ ν ϧ ρωπινον λέ ϒ ω ; – ου ̓ χατενα ̓ ρχσα η ̓ μα ͂ ς , i.e. did not burden you (2 Cor. 12:16), and also what is said here: μηδείς υ μα χαταδραδευέτω, i.e. Let no one gain victory against you. These and many other words are still used by the Cilicians. And let us not be surprised that the Apostle uses the word usage of the dialect in which he was born and raised, if Virgil, our second Homer, according to the custom of his fatherland, says: sceleratum frigus (Georg. 2). So no one surpasses or conquers you, arbitrarily following the humility of writing and religion and the ministry of angels, so that you serve not spiritual understanding, but the image of the future, which even the one who wants to surpass you has not seen or does not see (for in Greek there is both) - especially when he walks arrogantly and acts with pride and expresses the arrogance of the mind in bodily posture (for this is the meaning of the word έμδατέυων ). He is proud and puffed up with the mind of his flesh in vain: he understands everything carnally, examines the fables of Jewish traditions and does not adhere to the head of all the scriptures - the one about which it is written: Christ is the head of a man (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 4:15; Col. 1) - the head and beginning of the whole body and believers and all spiritual understanding. From this Head, the body of the church, through its compositions and connections, receives the vital force of heavenly teaching, so that one by one all members are revived and purified blood from food flows through the hidden convolutions of the veins and the strength of the body is preserved, supported and increased, so that the members watered from the source of the head grow into the perfection of God and the prayer of the Savior is fulfilled: that they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so they too may will be one in Us (John 17:21), so that after Christ gave us to the Father, God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28). Similar to this, both in words and in thoughts and in the way of expression, he writes very covertly to the Ephesians: but through true love they grew all things into Him, who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body, composed and copulated through all kinds of mutually fastening ties, through the action of each member to its own measure, receives an increase for the creation of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16). I spoke about this in great detail in the comments to this message. The Apostle directs everything against those who, among the Jews, turned to faith in the Lord Savior, wanted to observe Jewish rituals, about which no small dispute was raised in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 15). Therefore, above, Paul speaks of those who present themselves as teachers of the law: let no one judge you for food or drink (Col. 2:16), as if one were pure and the other unclean, or for some holiday, which some consider festive, others not festive; for for us, who believe in the risen Christ, it is a continuous and eternal celebration. Or new moons, i.e. Kalends and new moons, when the moon, after damage, becomes invisible and is covered by the darkness of the night - for the light of Christians is eternal and is always sanctified by the rays of the sun of truth. Or Saturday, so as not to do official work and not to carry burdens - for we have been blessed with the freedom of Christ and have ceased to bear the burden of sin. All this, says the apostle, is a shadow of the future and images of future bliss, so that in relation to what the Jews are attached to the letter and keep to the earth, we pass in spirit to Christ, who, in contrast to the shadow, is here called the body. For just as the truth is in the body, and in the shadow of the body there is a lie, so in the spiritual understanding all food and drink are pure, and one should expect continuous celebration, constant calendars and eternal rest. I ask: what did the apostle want to say with the words: humility and the ministry of angels, or what meaning do they have? From the words of the Lord to the disciples: Arise, let us go from here (John 14:31), behold, your house is left to you empty (Matthew 23:38), and from the fact that the place where our Lord was crucified is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Apoc. 11:8), it is clear that all Jewish ritual service has been abolished, and all the sacrifices that the Jews make are brought not to God, but to the fallen angels and the unclean to the spirits And it is not surprising if they do this after the suffering of the Lord, when through the prophet Amos it is said to them: did you bring sacrifices and grain gifts to Me in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? You carried the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, images which you made for yourselves ( Amos 5:25–26 ). The martyr Stephen, setting out this in more detail in his sermon to the Jews and revealing ancient history, said this: in those days they made a calf, and sacrificed to the idol, and rejoiced before the work of their hands. God turned away and left them to serve the army of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets (Acts 7:41–42). And the heavenly host is called not only the sun and the moon and the holy stars, but also the entire collection of angels and their hosts, which in Hebrew are called sabaoth, i.e. power or army, which is why in the Gospel of Luke we read: and suddenly a large army of heaven appeared with the angel, glorifying God and crying: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:13–14): for God creates his angels as spirits and his servants as flaming fire (Ps. 103). And so that we know that those who revered idols, although apparently they brought sacrifices to the church, always brought these sacrifices not to God, but to the angels, Ezekiel teaches about this in more detail: and He allowed them evil institutions and decrees from which they could not live (Ezek. 20:25): for God does not require the blood of goats or oxen, but the sacrifice of a broken spirit to God, and a contrite and humble heart, God does not despise (Ps. 50). Thus, those who created the calf at Horeb and worshiped the star of the god Remphan, about whom I discussed in more detail in the interpretation of the book of the prophet Amos, worshiped the images that they themselves made: and God gave them over to serve the heavenly army, which the Apostle now calls the service (religion) of an angel. Instead of humilitate (humiliation) in Greek it reads ταπεινοϕροσύνη, i.e. humiliation of the mind or feelings: for to believe that God delights in the blood of goats and oxen and the smell of incense, from which we people often run away, is truly a humiliation of the mind and a pathetic superstition. And what follows: therefore, if you and Christ died to the elements of the world, then why do you, as those living in the world, adhere to the regulations: “thou shalt not touch,” “thou shalt not taste,” “thou shalt not touch” (which all perish through use), according to the commandments and teachings of men? This only has the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and exhaustion of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh (Col. 2:20 et seq.), it seems to me that it has such a meaning. Let us trace each expression, and with the help of Christ we will clarify the darkness of thoughts. If you are baptized in Christ and buried with Christ in baptism; then those who died from the elements (instead of the elements) of the world, why don’t you talk to me; but I do not want to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14)? Why do you not heed the words of the Lord to the Father: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, and the world hates them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:16, 15:19), but on the contrary, as if you live in the world, take care not to touch the body of the deceased, the clothes and the bench on which the unclean woman sat, so as not to eat the meat of swine, hares, sepia, eels and loaches and all fish that do not have scales and feathers - that everything is destroyed by its very use and perishes, being digested in the stomach? For food is for the belly, and the belly is for food. It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7:15). - According to the commandments and teachings of men - those about which Isaiah speaks: the people draw near to Me with their lips, and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart is far from Me, and their reverence for Me is the study of the commandments of men (Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8-9). Therefore, the Lord reproaches the Pharisees, saying: do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded: honor your father and mother; and: He who curses his father or mother shall die by death. And you say: if someone says to his father or mother: “What you would use from me is a gift to God,” he may not honor his father or his mother, etc. and adds to this: you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition (Matthew 15:3–6). What are these traditions of the Pharisees, which they now call δευτερώσεις (repetition, second law), what absurd fables these are - I cannot say: the size of the book does not allow this, and very many of them are so ugly that I am ashamed to say. However, I will say one thing to the shame of these hated people. In the synagogues they have certain wise elders who are entrusted with the obnoxious duty of testing the blood of a girl or woman being purified, whether it is pure blood or unclean, and if they cannot distinguish it by the type of blood, then taste it. Moreover, since it is commanded that on the Sabbath days everyone should sit in his house and not go out (Exod. 16:29) and did not leave the place in which he lives: then when we begin to constrain them in the letter of the law, so that they do not lie, do not stand, do not walk, but only sit, if they want to fulfill the commandments, then in response to this they usually say: Barachiba, Simeon and Hillel, our teachers, commanded us to take two thousand steps on the Sabbath - and other things of this kind, preferring human teachings to teaching God's I am not saying that one should constantly sit on the Sabbath and not move at all from the place where this day found one, but that what is unfulfillable in the law, which is violated according to the conditions of the flesh, must be fulfilled by spiritual observance of the law. Further follows: this has only the appearance of wisdom. In this place, ubo (quidem) is a superfluous particle, which we find in the Apostle in many places due to ignorance of grammatical rules (propser imperitiam artis grammaticae), since it is not followed by but (sed) or another conjunction, which usually corresponds to the sentence in which quidem is placed. So: Jewish decrees for inexperienced and ignorant people apparently have signs of solidity and human wisdom, which is why their teachers are called σοϕοί, i.e. sages, and when on certain days they expound their traditions, they usually say to their disciples: οί σοϕοί δευτερώσιν, i.e. sages teach traditions. Instead of superstition in Greek there is ε ϧ ελο ϧ ρησχεία, i.e. false religion, and instead of humiliation ταπεινεϕροσύνη, which usually means virtue more than vice; but here ταπεινεϕροσύνη should be understood in the sense that they think about the low and earthly. And α ̓ ϕειδία σώματος, which does not have a corresponding name in Latin, is translated here: ad non parcendum corpori (no mercy of the body). The Jews do not spare their bodies in eating food, sometimes neglecting what they have and seeking what they do not have, from which constraint sometimes ailments and illnesses arise; and they do not take care of themselves, when for the pure everything is pure (Titus 1:15) and nothing can be unclean, which is received with thanksgiving, and for this purpose the Lord created it, so that, by saturating and replenishing the flesh, it revives and supports human members. And by the elements of the world, from which or by which we died, we must understand the law of Moses and the entire Old Testament, according to which we know God as if by the elements or initial concepts of faith. For just as the letters with which we compose syllables and words are called elements, and then after a long mental development we move on to composing speech - just as music has its elements, just as geometry begins with elementary concepts of lines, and dialectics and medicine have their introductions (ε ̓ ισ ϒ ω ϒ ά): so the childhood of the holy man is brought up by the elements (elements) of the Old Testament, so that then move on to the fullness of the gospel. That is why the one hundred and eighteenth psalm and all other psalms, denoted by letters, lead us from morality to speculation, 42 and from the elements the letters of the killing lead us to the life-giving spirit. So we, who have died to the world and its elements, must not fulfill what belongs to the world, for in one is the beginning, in the other is perfection. What does it mean that the same apostle wrote to the Thessalonians: for that day will not come, until the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3)? In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle wrote: There is no need to write to you about times and seasons, brethren, for you yourselves know with certainty that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety,” then destruction will suddenly befall them, just as labor pain befalls a pregnant woman, and they will not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:1ff.). For above he wrote to them: For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who have died, because the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who are left alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. So comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:14 et seq.). The Macedonians, hearing this, did not understand whom the apostle calls living with him and who are those who remain, who will be caught up with him in the clouds to meet the Lord, but they thought that Christ would come in his glory while they were still in their bodies and before they tasted death. Having heard about this, the apostle asks and begs them about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and does not rush to waver in mind either from the spirit, or from the word, or from the message as if written by him, as if the day of the Lord is already coming. All the books of the prophets and the gospel truth teach about the two comings of the Lord Savior - that first He will come in humiliation, and after in glory, and the Lord himself testifies what will happen before the end of the world and when the Antichrist comes - saying: therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to mountains; and let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything from his house (Matthew 24:15–17), and again: then, if anyone says to you, Behold, here is Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I told you in advance. So, if they say to you, “Behold, He is in the wilderness,” do not go out; “Behold, He is in the secret chambers,” do not believe it; for just as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (vv. 23-27), and then: then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and He will send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other (vv. 30-32). He also speaks to the Jews about the Antichrist: I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him (John 5:43). So, either a misunderstanding of the message, or a fabricated revelation, which in the darkening of the mind deceived those sleeping, or the guess of some interpreters, who attributed the prophetic words of Isaiah, Daniel and the Gospels about the Antichrist to that time, shook and confused the minds of the Thessalonians, so that they hoped that Christ would come in his glory at that time. The apostle corrects this error and says what they should expect before the coming of Christ - so that only after seeing these phenomena they will be convinced that the Antichrist will come, that is, the man of sin, the son of destruction, opposing and exalting himself above everything called God or what is holy, so that he will sit in the church of God. The Day of Christ, he says, will not come until a retreat comes first, which in Greek is called α ̓ ποστασία, so that all the nations subject to the Roman Empire will fall away from the Romans and will be revealed, i.e. the man of sin, foretold by all the prophets, will appear, in whom is the source of all sins and the son of destruction, i.e. the devil; for he is the destruction of all, the adversary of Christ, which is why he is called Antichrist, and exalts himself above everything that is called God, so that he tramples under his foot the gods of all nations or every recognized, even true religion, and sits in the church of God, in Jerusalem (as some think) or in the church (as in my opinion is more just), pretending to be Christ or the Son of God. Christ will not come, he says, until the Roman Empire is destroyed and the Antichrist comes, and Christ will come at such a time to overthrow the Antichrist. You remember, he says that this very thing that I am now writing in the epistle, I previously conveyed to you orally when I was with you, and said that Christ will not come until the Antichrist appears before Him. And now you know what prevents him from being revealed in due time, i.e. you know very well what is the reason that the Antichrist is not coming at the present time. He does not want to say directly that the Roman Empire will be destroyed - the empire that its rulers considered eternal. That is why, according to the Apocalypse of John, a blasphemous name is written on the forehead of a harlot dressed in purple, i.e. eternal Rome. For if he had directly and boldly said that the Antichrist would not come until the Roman Empire was destroyed first, then this would have been seen as a just reason for persecuting the then-born church. Further: for the mystery of iniquity is already in action, only it will not be completed until the one who now restrains is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed - it has this meaning: with many atrocities and iniquities with which the most wicked Nero oppresses the world of the Caesars, he prepares for the coming of the Antichrist, and in Nero partly what the Antichrist will do is fulfilled; let only the Roman Empire, which now holds all nations, be destroyed and taken from the midst, and then the Antichrist, the source of iniquity, will come, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of His mouth, i.e. divine power, the power of one’s greatness, for which to command means to do; He will not kill with a multitude of troops, not with the strength of soldiers, not with the help of angels, but the Antichrist will be killed immediately as soon as Christ comes. And just as darkness is driven away by the manifestation of the sun, so the Lord will destroy and crush it with the manifestation (illustratione) of His coming. The works of the Antichrist are the works of Satan, and just as in Christ there was the fullness of divinity bodily, so in the Antichrist there will be all powers and signs and wonders, but everything is false. For as to the divine signs performed by Moses, the wise men opposed their false signs, and as the rod of Moses devoured their rods (Ex. 7); so the truth of Christ will devour the lies of the Antichrist. But those predestined to destruction will be deceived by his lies. And since a secret question could arise: why did God allow him to have power, signs and wonders, by means of which he could deceive, if possible, even the elect of God; then the apostle, by his permission, anticipates the question and decides the objection before it could be proposed. All this, he says, the Antichrist will do not by his own power, but by God’s permission in relation to the Jews, since they did not want to accept the love of truth, that is, the Spirit of God through Christ, for the love of God was poured out into the hearts of believers (Rom. 5:3), and Christ himself says: I am the truth (John 14:6), about whom it is written in the psalms: truth will arise from the earth (Ps. 84:12). So, to those who have not accepted love and truth in order to accept the Savior and receive salvation, God will not send the doer, but the action itself, that is, the source of error, so that they will believe a lie, since the Antichrist is himself a liar and the father of lies. And if the Antichrist had been born of a virgin and had come into the world before Christ, then the Jews could have been justified and said that they sought the truth and therefore accepted a lie instead of the truth; and now they will be judged for this and without a doubt condemned, since, having despised the truth of Christ, they will subsequently accept a lie, that is, the Antichrist. That I, a stranger to you, dare to write to a stranger - the reason for this is the request of the holy servant of Christ Hebidia and my daughter, your wife or, better yet, from your wife - sister and co-worker, Artemia. She, not content with saving herself, sought your salvation, she sought before in the fatherland, and now she is looking in holy places, wanting to imitate the love of the apostles Andrew and Philip, who, having been found by Christ, wanted to find brother Simon and friend Nathanael, of whom the first was honored to hear: you are Simon, son of Jonah: you will be called Cephas, which means Peter, and the other is the gift of God (for this means in our language the word Nathanael) - is comforted by the testimony of Christ, who says to him: here is truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile (John 1:48). And Lot and his daughters once wanted to save his wife and, almost half-burnt, wanted to bring her out of the conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah - a wife who was obsessed with her former vices; but she, looking back in horror and despair, is condemned by an eternal sentence for unbelief. But ardent faith, unsuccessfully lost in relation to one woman, saves the entire city of Zoar. After Lot, leaving the Sodom plains and darkness, ascended to the highlands, the sun rose for him in Zoar, which means “small,” so that Lot’s small faith, which could not do more, would preserve at least less, since Lot, a resident of Gomorrah and error, could not immediately move to noon, where the Lord’s friend Abraham received God with the Angels. And Joseph feeds his brothers in Egypt, and the groom hears from the bride: Where do you pasture? where do you rest at noon? ( Song 1:6 ). Samuel once mourned Saul (1 Samuel 15), since he did not heal the wounds of pride with the goal of repentance. And Paul wept for the Corinthians, who did not want to wash away the filthiness of fornication with tears (1 Cor. 5:2; 2 Cor. 2:1). Therefore, Ezekiel also consumes a book scroll, inside and outside covered with verses (carmine), weeping and grief - verses in praise of the righteous, weeping for the repentant, grief - in relation to those about whom it is written: with the coming of the wicked comes contempt (Prov. 18:3), to which Isaiah refers, saying: The Lord of hosts calls you this day to weep and lament, and to cut your hair, and to gird yourself with sackcloth. But behold, fun and joy! They kill oxen and slaughter sheep; They eat meat and drink wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” (Isa. 22:12-13), - about which Ezekiel says: and you, son of man, tell the house of Israel: you say this: “Our trespasses and our sins are upon us, and we melt away in them: how can we live?” Tell them: As I live, says the Lord God, I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live; and further: turn, turn from your evil ways; Why should you die, O house of Israel? (Ezek. 33:10–11). Nothing offends God more than stagnation at the worst because of despair at the best, although despair itself is a sign of unbelief. For whoever despairs of salvation does not think that there will be judgment, because if the despairing person were afraid of this judgment, then, of course, he would prepare himself for the judge with good deeds. Let us listen to what God says through Jeremiah: Do not let your feet wear out your shoes, and do not let your throat thirsty (Jer. 2:25) and through Isaiah: by remaining still and at rest, you would be saved (Isaiah 30:15). We can only know the severity of the disease after restoration of health; vices show us how much good virtue has in itself; light becomes clearer when compared with darkness. Ezekiel says in the same words and in the same sense: repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that wickedness will not be a stumbling block for you. Cast away from yourself all the sins that you have committed, and create for yourself a new heart and a new spirit; and why should you die, O house of Israel? For I do not want the death of the dying, says the Lord God (Ezek. 18:30–32, 33:11). And further he says: As I live, says the Lord God, I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live (Ezek. 33:11), so that the unbelieving mind does not despair of the promise of good, and the spirit, which once destined itself for destruction, does not abandon care for the wound, which it considers incurable. Therefore, he says that he swears that if we do not believe the promise of God, then we would at least believe the oath of God about our salvation. Therefore, the righteous man prays, saying: bring us back, O God of our salvation, and turn away Thy wrath from us (Ps. 84:5), and again: Lord, by Thy will grant strength to my kindness, but I turned away Thy face and was confused (Ps. 29:8). For when I replaced the abomination of my sins with the beauty of virtues, You strengthened my weakness with Your grace. Behold, I hear the promise: my enemies will marry, and I will suffer, and will not return until they die (Ps. 17:38), so that I, who previously avoided You and was Your enemy, may be caught by Your hand. Do not cease to pursue me until I depart from my most wicked path and return to my former husband, who will give me my clothes, and oil, and flour, and feed me with the richest dishes, - who will thus block and imprison my wicked ways, in order to find for me the way that says in the Gospel: I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Heed the word of the prophet: those who sow in tears will reap with joy. The one who bears the seeds weeping will return with joy, bearing his sheaves (Ps. 125:5-6), and say to him: every night I wash my bed, I wet my bed with my tears (Ps. 6:7), and again: as a deer longs for streams of water, so does my soul long for You, O God! My soul thirsts for the mighty, living God: when will I come and appear before the face of God! My tears were bread for me day and night (Ps. 42:1-4), and in another place: God! You are my God, I have been looking for You since the early dawn; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in an empty, parched and waterless land, to see Your power and Your glory (Ps. 63:2-3). For although my soul thirsted for You, I sought You much more through the labor of my flesh and could not appear to You in the Holy, unless after being in a land empty of vices, impenetrable to opposing forces and free from moisture and impurity of all lust. The Lord also wept over the city of Jerusalem because it did not repent (Luke 19:41), and Peter washed away his threefold denial with bitter tears (Matthew 26:75) and fulfilled the prophetic prophecy: streams of water flow from my eyes (Ps. 119:136). Jeremiah also wept for the unrepentant people, saying: Oh, who will give my head water and my eyes a source of tears! I would weep day and night for this people (Jer. 9:1). And what he cries and sheds tears about - he shows this with the following words: “do not cry for the dead and do not mourn him: weep for the one who goes out, because he will not return again.” So, you need to mourn not the pagans and Jews who were not in the Church and once died forever, about whom the Savior says: leave the dead to bury their dead (Matthew 8:22), but mourn those who, through sins and iniquities, leave the church and no longer want to return to it by repentance for their sins. From here to the church men, who are called the walls and pillars of the church, the prophetic word says: wall of the daughter of Zion! Pour a stream of tears day and night (Lamentations 2:18), fulfilling this word of the apostle: rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom. 12:15), so that with your tears you can move them to weep, so that, persisting in malice, they will not hear: I have planted you [as] a noble vine, the purest seed; How did you turn into a wild branch of someone else’s vine with Me? (Jer. 2:21); and again: saying to the tree: “You are my father,” and to the stone: “You gave birth to me”; for they turned their backs to Me, and not their faces (Jer. 2:27). The meaning of this is this: they did not want to turn to Me to repent, but out of their hardness of heart they turned their spines to Me as an insult. That is why the Lord says to Jeremiah: Have you seen what the apostate daughter of Israel did? She went to every high mountain and under every green tree and there she committed adultery. And after she did all this, I said: “return to Me”; but she did not return (Jer. 3:6–7; Isa. 57). O God's mercy, O our hardness of heart! And after such great crimes, He calls us to salvation. And if even then we do not want to turn to the better, He says: “if a wife leaves her husband and marries another and then wants to return to him: will he really accept her and not be disgusted.” Instead, according to the Hebrew text (which is not in the Greek and Latin codes) it says: “and you have forsaken Me, but return, and I will receive you, says the Lord.” And Isaiah expresses the same thought in almost the same words: turn to Him from whom you have fallen so much, sons of Israel! (Isa. 31:6). Is it not I, Lord? and there is no other God besides Me, there is no righteous and saving God besides Me. Turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other (Isa. 45:21–22). Remember what happened before, from the [beginning] of the age, for I am God, and there is no other God, and there is none like Me (Isa. 46:9). Joel writes: turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts, not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and repents of the calamity (Joel 2:12–13). How great is mercy and how (so to speak) excessive, ineffable compassion - this is what the prophet Hosea teaches us, through whom God says: How will I deal with you, Ephraim? How can I betray you, Israel? Will I do to you as I did to Adam, will I do to you what I did to him? My heart turned in Me, all My pity was kindled! I will not do it according to the fury of My anger (Hos. 11:8). Therefore, David says in the psalm: in death there is no remembrance of You: in the grave who will glorify You? (Ps. 6:6), and in another place: I revealed my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my crimes to the Lord,” and You took away from me the guilt of my sin. For this reason, every righteous person will pray to You at the time of need, and then the flood of many waters will not reach him (Ps. 32:5-6). Look at the multitude of tears: it is compared to an overflow of waters. Whoever has such tears and says with Jeremiah: do not lower the apples of your eyes (Lamentations 2:18), this will immediately be fulfilled: mercy and truth are met, justice and peace are embraced (Ps. 84:11), so that if truth and truth frighten you, then mercy and peace will call for salvation. Psalm fiftieth represents complete repentance. When David went to Bathsheba (Bethsabee), the wife of Uri the Hittite (Ethaci), and, having been convicted by the prophet Nathan, said he had sinned, he was immediately worthy to hear: and the Lord has taken away your sin (2 Sam. 12:13). David added murder to adultery, and, however, shedding tears, said: have mercy on me, O God, according to Your great mercy, and according to the multitude of Your compassions, cleanse my iniquity (Ps. 50:1). Great sin required great mercy. Therefore David adds: above all (multum) wash me from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my iniquity, and I will take away my sin before me. You alone have sinned (for I was a king, I was not afraid of anyone else) and have done evil before You, so that you may be justified in Your words and overcome the judgment of You; for God has imprisoned all in disobedience, that He might have mercy on all (Rom. 11:32). And he succeeded so much that recently being a sinner and a repentant, he rose to the level of a teacher and said: I will teach the wicked in Your way, and wickedness will turn to You (Ps. 50:15). For whoever confesses his sins before God and says: My wounds have grown stale and rotten because of my madness (Ps. 37:6), for him this confession and correction replaces the stench of wounds with the beauty of health. He who hides his crimes will not prosper (Prov. 28:13). Ahab, the most wicked king, through a bloody crime took possession of the vineyard of Naboth; and when Jezebel, united to him not so much by marriage as by cruelty, was struck by Elijah’s reproof: thus says the Lord: in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood too... and the Lord said about Jezebel: dogs will eat Jezebel outside the wall of Jezreel, then Ahab, hearing this, tore his garments, put sackcloth on his body, fasted and slept in sackcloth; and the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying: Because he humbled himself before Me, I will not bring trouble in his days (1 Kings 21:19, 23, 29). The crime of Ahab and Jezebel is the same, but when Ahab turned to repentance, the punishment is deferred to his descendants, and Jezebel, who persisted in the crime, is condemned by the verdict. And the Lord says in the Gospel: the Ninevites will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented from the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:41), and also: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13). The drachma is lost and, however, is in the purse; ninety-nine sheep are left in the wilderness, and one stray is brought on the shoulders of the shepherd (Luke 15); and there is joy among the angels over one sinner who repents. What bliss is it if the heavens rejoice over our salvation, which says: repent, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. There is no middle ground: death and life are opposites; and yet they are united by repentance. The prodigal son squandered all his property and, away from his father, barely satisfied his hunger with food from pigs, but he returns to his father, and a fat calf is slaughtered for him, he receives his first robe and a ring (Luke 15), - he receives the clothes of Christ, which he once desecrated, and is worthy to hear: let your clothes be bright at all times (Eccl. 9:8), and, having received the seal of God, he exclaims to the Lord: The Father, having sinned in heaven and before you and, reconciled with a kiss, says to Him: the light of Your countenance is shining upon us, O Lord (Ps. 4:7). The righteousness of the righteous will not save in the day of his transgression, and the wicked for his iniquity will not fall in the day of turning from his iniquity (Ezek. 33:12). God judges everyone as He finds him, and looks not at the past, but at the present, if, however, previous crimes are atone for the latest conversion. A righteous man will fall seven times and rise again (Proverbs 24:16). If he falls, how is he righteous? if he is righteous, how does he fall? But whoever always rises through repentance does not lose the name of the righteous. And the one who sins not only seven, but also seventy-seven times, his sins are forgiven if he turns to repentance (Matthew 18). He who is given more loves more. The harlot washes with her tears and wipes the Savior’s feet with her hair, and in the image of the Church gathered from the pagans, she is worthy to hear: your sins are forgiven you (Luke 7:48). The righteousness of the Pharisee is destroyed by pride, and the humility of the tax collector is saved by confession (Luke 18). Through Jeremiah, God testifies: sometimes I will say about a nation and a kingdom that I will uproot, crush and destroy it; but if this people, against whom I have spoken this, turn from their evil deeds, I will put aside the evil that I thought to do to them. And sometimes I will say about a nation and a kingdom that I will establish and establish it; but if he does what is evil in My sight and does not obey My voice, I will cancel the good with which I wanted to bless him (Jer. 18:7-10). And then he adds: I am preparing evil for you and plotting against you; Therefore, turn every one from your evil way and correct your ways and your actions. But they say: “Don’t hope; we will live according to our own thoughts, and we will each act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jer. 18:11-12). In the Gospel, Simeon the righteous says: Behold, this destined for the fall and the rising of many (Luke 2:34), that is, for the fall of sinners and the rising of the repentant. To the Corinthians the apostle writes: there is a true rumor that fornication has [appeared] among you, and, moreover, such fornication as is not heard even among the pagans, that someone [instead of a wife] has his father’s wife. And you became proud, instead of crying rather, so that the one who did such a thing would be taken out from among you (1 Cor. 5:1-2). And to them in the Second Epistle, expressing concern: so that he would not be consumed by excessive sadness (2 Cor. 2:7), he encourages him and begs the Corinthians to deepen their love for him, so that the one who died through incest would receive salvation through repentance. Who will be clean from filth? Nobody, even if his life on earth is one day (Job 14:4, 25:4), and the years of a sinner’s life are numbered. The stars are unclean in His sight (Job 25:5); and He sees shortcomings in His Angels (Job 4:18). If there is sin in heaven, how much more on earth? If those who do not have bodily temptation sin, how much more do we, clothed with mortal flesh, say to the apostle: poor man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). For good does not live in our flesh, and we do not what we want, but what we do not want, so that the spirit wants to do one thing, but the flesh is excited to do something else. If some are called righteous, and not only righteous, but also righteous in the sight of God, then they are called so in the sense of that righteousness about which it was said above: a righteous man will fall seven times and rise again (Prov. 24:16), and also: a wicked man for his iniquity will not fall on the day of turning from his iniquity (Ezek. 33:12). Finally, Zechariah, the father of John, who is called righteous, sinned through unbelief and was immediately punished by dumbness (Luke 1:20). And Job, portrayed at the beginning of the book as righteous, pure and blameless, is subsequently presented as a sinner both in the speech of the Lord and in his confession. If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as the prophets and apostles, were not free from sin - if tares were mixed with the purest wheat, then what can be said about us, about whom it is written: what does chaff have in common with pure grain? says the Lord (Jer. 23:28). And yet the chaff is kept for the fire of the future, and in this life the tares are mixed with the wheat, until He comes who has a spade in His hand and will clear the threshing floor, to gather the wheat into the barns and burn the tares in the fire of Gehenna. All this, as if bypassing the most beautiful meadows of the scriptures, I wanted to combine into one and from the most beautiful flowers to weave you a wreath of repentance, so that you would lay it on your head, “took the wings of a dove, and flew, and calmed down” (Ps. 54:7), and made peace with the all-merciful Father. Your wife once, and now your sister and co-worker, told me that, according to the commandment of the Apostle, you, by mutual agreement, abstained from marital cohabitation in order to devote yourself to prayer; She also told me that you, as if standing on an unsteady place, wavered, even (to put it more bluntly) fell; and she and Moses heeded the words of the Lord: “Stand here before Me” (Ex. 33:21) and said about the Lord: “He set my feet on the rock” (Ps. 39:3) - that your house, which did not have solid foundations of faith, subsequently fell from the whirlwind of the devil; - that her house stands for the Lord and does not refuse you its hospitality, so that now you are united spiritually with the one with whom you were previously united bodily: he who is united with the Lord is one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17). She also said that when you were separated by the invasion of the barbarians and the danger of captivity, you made an oath immediately or later to go after her to holy places and save your soul, which, it seemed, you had destroyed through negligence. Fulfill what you promised before God. The lives of mortals are unknown; Therefore, in order not to die before the fulfillment of your promise, imitate the one whom you had to teach. Oh, shame! The weaker sex conquers the world, and the stronger is conquered by the world. “A woman is the leader of such a great cause” (Virgil): and will you not follow the one whom you should be successor in the matter of salvation? If the remaining estate holds you back, especially since the murder of friends and fellow citizens and the destruction of cities and villages are being committed before your eyes, then, at least in the midst of the disasters of captivity and devastation, in view of fierce enemies and countless misfortunes of your province, grab hold of the board of repentance and remember your fellow servant, who constantly desires your salvation, never despairing of it. You wander in your fatherland, not even in your fatherland - because you have lost your fatherland; and instead of you, in those revered places of the resurrection, suffering and birth of the Lord the Savior, where He cried in the days of His infancy, she remembers your name and with prayers draws you to herself so that you receive salvation, if not by your own merit, then at least by her faith. The once paralytic lay on his bed, and all his limbs were so broken by paralysis that he could neither move his legs to walk, nor his hands to pray; and yet he is brought by someone else’s hands and receives his former health, so that he carries the bed that was once worn on the bed (Mark 2:12; and John 5:9). And you, absent here in body, present in faith, your co-servant brings you to the Lord Savior and says to your Canaanite wife: My daughter is cruelly raging (Matthew 15:22). And I will rightly call your soul the daughter of her soul; the soul does not know the difference between the sexes - but the essence of the comparison is that your wife, as a small child, as a nursing baby and not yet able to take solid food, wants to feed you with milk and shows you food from the nurse, so that you can say with the prophet: I have gone astray, like a lost sheep: seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments (Ps. 119:176). On the same path, I find a new path and for the old, worn-out material I come up with a new elegant form, so that it is both the same and not the same. One path, but many motivations to achieve the goal of this path. I often wrote to widows and, to exhort them, repeating many proofs from the Holy Scriptures, weaved various flowers of testimonies into one wreath of chastity. Now my speech is to Agerukhia, which received its name by some prediction of the future and with the help of the all-powerful God 43. She is surrounded by a glorious host of women, experienced in Christ - grandmothers, mothers and paternal aunts. Of these, grandmother Metronia, maintaining widowhood for forty years, reminded me from the Gospel of Anna, daughter of Phanuel (Luke 2:36). Benigna, the mother, having been a widow for fourteen years, is surrounded by the face of a hundred virgins. The sister of Tselerip, the father of Agerukhia, who raised the baby and took her into her arms at birth, deprived of the joy of marriage for twenty years, raised her granddaughter, teaching her what she herself had learned from her mother. I noted this in passing, wanting to show that my monogamous girl does not surpass her family in this way, but imitates it, and is not so much worthy of praise for observing monogamy as she would be worthy of general censure if she decided to remarry, especially when Simplicius, who was born after the death of his father, restores his father’s name and no longer makes it possible to say that the surname will cease and the house will be left without heirs. Lust often hides under this pretext, so that what is done through intemperance appears to be a consequence of the desire to have children. But what am I saying as if Agerukhia hesitates when I hear that, under the protection of the church, she is avoiding many court suitors, whom the devil zealously inflames to tempt the chastity of our widow, tempting everyone with her nobility, appearance, age, and wealth? - In the end, the only thing that will follow is that the winner receives more crowns, the more temptations there are for her chastity. Upon leaving the pier, I encounter a kind of underwater rock, so that I cannot feel safe at sea; This is precisely what appears to be the authority of the Apostle Paul, who in his letter to Timothy, speaking about widows, says: therefore, I desire that young widows marry, give birth to children, manage the house and not give the enemy any reason for slander; for some have already turned aside after Satan (1 Tim. 5:14–15). - Therefore, you must first interpret the meaning of the instruction and explain the entire content of this passage (the context, or connection of speech), and thus, following in the footsteps of the apostles, not deviate even a finger, as they usually say, in the opposite direction. Above, the apostle depicted what a widow should be like: a wife of one husband, known for good deeds, if she raised children, helped the needy (ibid., 9 and 10), whose hope is God and who abides in prayers and supplications day and night (ibid., 5); after this he adds the opposite: and the voluptuous one died alive; and in order to strengthen his disciple with every kind of teaching, he immediately adds: do not accept young widows, for they, falling into luxury in opposition to Christ, want to marry. They are condemned because they rejected their former faith (ibid., 11 and 12). So for those who commit fornication as an insult to their husband Christ (for this means the Greek word χαταςρηνιάσωσι), the apostle allows a second marriage, preferring bigamy to fornication, but only by indulgence, and not by commandment. At the same time, every word of the evidence must be explained. I wish, he says, that young widows get married. Why? - I’m asking. “Because I don’t want young widows to commit fornication.” They gave birth to children: why? - So that, fearing a birth from adultery, they would not think of killing children. Managed the house: why? I repeat. - Because it is much more excusable to be bigamous than to be an adulteress, and to have a second husband than to have many adulterers, for in the first case there is consolation in adversity, in the second there is punishment for sin. It follows: they did not give the enemy any reason for slander. This brief instruction combines many admonitions - so that exquisite decoration does not dishonor the widow’s vow; so that with the movement of her eyes and the gaiety of her face she does not carry away a crowd of young men with her; so that she doesn’t promise one thing in words, another in body movements, so that this popular verse is not attached to her: “She grinned and promised something with her sly eye,” (Ovid. In Elegiis amatoriis lib 3, Eleg. 22) To express in a few words all the reasons why the apostle allows marriage, he says: they did not give the enemy any reason for slander. So for the intemperate, he allows a second and, if necessary, a third marriage in order to distract them from Satan, so that it is better to tie the wife to at least some husband than to the devil. And to the Corinthians he said something similar: To the unmarried and to the widows I say: it is good for them to remain as I do. But if they cannot abstain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to become inflamed (1 Cor. 7:8–9). Why is this, apostle? Because,” he immediately answers, “it’s worse to get inflamed.” On the other hand, absolute goodness, incomparable to anything worse, consists in being what the apostle was, i.e. permitted, and not bound, not a slave, but free, thinking about what is the essence of God, and not about what pertains to the wife. In the words that follow, the apostle adds: the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband lives; if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she wants, only in the Lord. But she will be happier if she remains like this, according to my advice; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God (ibid., vv. 39-40). And here the meaning is the same, because the spirit is the same; The messages are different, but the author of the messages is one. During the life of the husband the wife is bound, and after his death she is free. Therefore, marriage is a bond, and widowhood is a permission. Wife and husband and husband and wife are so connected that they have no power over their own body and are obliged to do justice to each other; and those who submit to the power of marriage cannot have freedom regarding chastity. And adding: - only in the Lord, the apostle excludes marriage with pagans, about which he said in another place: do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What does light have in common with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial? Or what is the complicity of the faithful with the infidel? What is the relationship between the church of God and idols? (2 Cor. 6:14ff.). That is: we should not plow the ox and the donkey together (Deut. 22:10); The wedding garment should not be woven with different wefts. And then he immediately eliminates what he allowed and, as if repenting of his thought, repeats the previous one: it will be more blessed if it remains like this; and he expresses this as his advice. So that this advice does not remain neglected as the advice of a person, the apostle confirms it with the authority of the Holy Spirit, so that in these words we do not listen to a person who gratifies the weaknesses of human flesh, but we listen to the Holy Spirit admonishing the apostle. And a widow of young years should not find an excuse for herself in the fact that he commands that a widow be chosen to be at least sixty years old (1 Tim. 5:9), for the one who says about married women: the time is already short, so that those who have wives should be as if they have not (1 Cor. 7:29), much less even celibates or young girls, does not force them to marry; speaking about widows, the apostle means those who have food from their own, who are in the care of their children and grandchildren. He commands these widows to learn to manage their homes, to show gratitude to their parents and due respect to them, so that the church is not burdened and can help the true widows, about whom it is written: Honor widows, true widows (1 Tim. 5:3), that is, those who are deprived of all help from their relatives, who cannot work with their own hands, who are burdened by helplessness and old age, for whom hope is God and everything. work - prayer. This makes it clear that young widows, with the exception of those who are excused by weakness, are left either to their own labor or entrusted to the care of their children and relatives. Honor in this place is understood either as alms or as a gift, as in the following words: elders should be given special honor, especially to those who labor in word and doctrine (1 Tim. 5:17). And in the Gospel, the Lord - the commandment of the law, which says: honor your father and mother (Ex. 20:12), explains that this respect should not consist in the sound of words, which with empty caresses can deceive the poverty of parents, but in providing for their vital needs. While the Lord commands that children feed their poor parents and, during their old age, reward them for the blessings received in childhood, the scribes and Pharisees, on the contrary, taught children to answer their parents this way: korvan, i.e. The “gift” that I promised to the altar and assigned as a gift to the church, even if you did not receive food from me, will turn into your consolation. And this was done with the goal that the children, despite the poverty of their father and mother, would make a sacrifice, which would be consumed by the priests and scribes. So, if the apostle forces poor widows (even those who are young and not depressed by any illness) to work with their own hands so that the church is not burdened and can support elderly widows: then what apology will she bring who is drowning in the riches of the world, who can even help others and from mammon of unrighteousness gain friends for herself, so that with their help she can enter eternal shelter? At the same time, consider that a widow is not elected if she is not the wife of one husband, and you should not think that it is only a mandatory rule for priests that only those who have one wife are allowed to the altar. For bigamy not only deprives one of priestly service, but also of church alms, since one who enters into a second marriage is considered unworthy of benefits. Let this law, although priestly, be limited to a simple layman, who must behave in such a way that he can be elected to the priesthood: for a bigamist is not elected, although priests from simple laymen are often elected. So the commandment by which the priesthood is achieved is also obligatory for the laity. The apostle desires one thing, and is forced to desire another. He allows a second marriage due to my intemperance, and not at his own request. He wants everyone to be the same as himself, to think the same as the essence of God, and, having freed himself, to no longer be bound. But since he saw that the weak through intemperance fall into the abyss of depravity, he gives his hand to bigamy, so that it is better for them to have communication with one than with many. Let him who enters into a second marriage hear this not as a bitter reproach expressed contrary to the commandment of the Apostle. The desire of the apostle is twofold: one commands: to the unmarried and to widows I say: it is good for them to remain as I am; the other only allows: but if they cannot abstain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to become inflamed. “First he expresses what he wants, then what he is forced to allow.” He wants us to remain after marriage just like himself, and sets an apostolic example of perfection; but since he saw that we do not want what he himself wants, he shows indulgence to our intemperance. What will we choose - either what he most wants and which in itself is good, or what, in comparison with evil, is more excusable and in some way is no longer good, since it is only preferred to evil? If we choose what the apostle does not desire, but is only forced to desire, even allowing those who wish the worst, then we are fulfilling not the apostle’s will, but our own. In the Old Testament (Lev. 22; Ezek. 44) we read that the only-married daughters of priests, if widowed, should eat from the priests’ maintenance, and after their death the same commemoration should be made for them as for their father and mother; and if they understand other men, then they are alienated from both the father and the sacrificial gifts and must be considered among the external ones. To our shame and condemnation, even paganism observes this, and the truth does not present to Christ what error presents to the devil, who turns even chastity to destruction. Hierophant 44 in Athens kills the male desires in himself and, with constant exhaustion, becomes chaste. A priest is allowed to serve as a priest only with one wife. Only the wife of one husband is elected as a priestess. A monogamist is chosen to worship under the Egyptian bull. Not to mention the virgins Vesta, Apollo, Juno of Achaea, Diana and Minerva, who wither in the constant virginity of the sacred vow, and I will briefly mention the Queen of Carthage, who decided to burn herself rather than marry King Giarbus - about the wife of Hasdrubal, who, in order not to suffer an insult to her chastity, grabbed her children in both hands and deliberately threw herself into the flames the fire she lit, and finally about Lucretia, who, having lost the glory of innocence, did not want to survive her shame. Without dwelling on many things that you can borrow for your edification from the first book against Jovinian, I will repeat only one circumstance that happened in your fatherland, so that you know that chastity is respected even among barbarians and among savage and bloodthirsty peoples. The Teutonic tribe, emerging from the distant shores of the ocean and from Germany, flooded all of Gaul and, despite frequent victories over Roman troops, was defeated in the battle with Marius at the Sextian waters. Thirty noble women of this tribe, when they learned that they were to be given over to other husbands as prisoners of war, first begged the consul to give them to serve at the church of Ceres and Venus; but without receiving consent to this request and driven away by the lecturer, they killed the small children, and in the morning they were found dead, with nooses around their necks and in each other’s arms. Will a noble woman allow herself to do what barbarian chastity could not be forced into captivity - and having lost her first good husband, or having experienced a bad one, will she really begin to try to violate God’s decree? If she soon loses her second, will she really marry a third? And if this one dies, will he really come out a fourth and fifth time, so as not to be distinguished in any way from a harlot? – A widow should take every possible care not to overstep the first limits of chastity. If she crosses these limits and violates the modesty of a noble matron, she will indulge in all ungodly lust, so that the words of the prophet can be attributed to her: you had the forehead of a harlot, you cast away shame (Jer. 3:3). So what? Am I condemning a second marriage? Not at all; I praise the first one. Excommunicating bigamists? No; but I urge monogamous people to abstain. In Noah's ark there were not only clean animals, but also unclean animals. There were people in it, and there were snakes. The large house also contains various vessels; in some there is honor, in others there is no honor (2 Tim. 2:20). There is a vessel for drinking, and there is a vessel for hidden natural functions. The Gospel says that on good soil fruit grows a hundred, sixty and thirty times (Matthew 13:23) - the hundredth should take first place, as the crown of virginity; fruit sixty times - for the feat of widowhood, should be in second place; the fruit is thirty times, by the very connection of the fingers 45, should indicate a marriage union; - what number will determine the fruit of bigamy - there is not even a number for this. It must be that bigamy is not born on the good earth, but only in thorny and empty places, which constitute a refuge for those who are compared to the most wicked Herod. Bigamy can take credit only for the fact that the one who entered into a second marriage is better than a harlot, that she stands above the victim of public debauchery, that she commits fornication with one and not with many. I want to tell you about one incredible, but confirmed by many, case. A long time ago, when I helped Damasus, Bishop of Rome, in church correspondence and responded to the council meetings of the East and West, I saw a couple of two people standing one after the other from the lowest mob, one of whom buried twenty wives, and the other had twenty-two husbands; These people entered into what they thought was their last marriage. All men and women were equally impatient to find out who would survive who longer after so many changes. The husband won and, in front of a crowd of people from all over the city, adorned with a crown, holding a palm tree, and with popular exclamations, walked ahead of the funeral stretcher of his polyandrous wife. But what should you say to such a woman? Without a doubt, the same thing that the Lord said to the Samaritan woman: you have had twenty-two husbands, and the one who now buries you is not your husband (John 4). So I ask you, most pious daughter in Christ, not paying attention to the arguments that intemperate, pitiful people use; but it is better to read what chastity is decorated with. It’s enough for you that you lost the first stage of virginity and through the third reached the second, i.e. Through marital duties she achieved abstinence in widowhood. Do not think about the future, already abandoned, and do not look for alien and distant examples. You have a grandmother, mother and aunt; comprehensive imitation of them, their instructions and rules of life - this is the norm of virtues for you. For if many in marriage, and even during the life of their husbands, understand the words of the apostle: everything is permissible for me, but not everything is profitable (1 Cor. 6:12) and for the sake of the kingdom of heaven they castrate themselves, either by mutual consent, from the time of the second birth after baptism, or out of zeal for the faith aroused after marriage; then why doesn’t a widow, who, by God’s decree, has lost her husband, exclaim with joy: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away (Job. 1:21); and why would she put off the opportunity for liberation that presented itself, in order to have power over her body and no longer be a slave to a man? Hence, virginity is easier in the sense that it did not know the excitement of the flesh, and widowhood is more difficult because it evokes former lusts in the soul - especially if the widow thinks that she has lost her husband, and has not changed her husband to another (i.e., a better, heavenly one). In the first case she may grieve, and in the latter she may rejoice. The creation of the first man should teach us to avoid polygamy. One Adam and one Eve, even one rib is separated from Adam to be his wife. Further, through marriage, that which was divided is united into one, as Scripture says: and the two will become one flesh—not into two and not into three. Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife (Gen. 2:24) - obviously not to wives. Explaining this passage, Paul refers it to Christ and the church (1 Cor. 6:16ff.), meaning that both the first Adam is monogamous in the flesh, so the second is in the spirit. Just as Eve alone should be the mother of all living, so one church should be the mother of all Christians. Just as the wicked Lamech divided the first into two wives, so the heretics divide the last into many churches, which, according to the Apocalypse of John, should rather be called synagogues of the devil (Apoc. 2:9) than churches of Christ. In the book of Songs we read: there are sixty queens and eighty concubines and maidens without number, but the only one is she, my dove, my pure; She is the only one with her mother, distinguished from her parent (Song. 6:8-9). The same John writes a letter to her: the elder - to the chosen lady and her children (2 John 1:1). But also into the ark, which the Apostle Peter represents as an image of the church (1 Pet. 3), Noah brought with his three sons one, and not two, wives of each of them (Gen. 6). Even from unclean animals, only a pair is taken - a male and a female, so that bigamy does not occur even among animals, snakes, crocodiles and lizards. And if seven pairs are taken from pure ones, i.e. odd, then this also shows the primacy of virginity and chastity. For, having left the ark, Noah offered sacrifices to God not from those taken in even numbers, but from those taken in odd numbers, because the former were appointed for procreation and cohabitation, and the latter for sacrifice. But the patriarchs not only had more than one wife, but even had many concubines. And not only that, David had many of them, and Solomon had countless numbers. Judah approaches Tamar as a harlot. And, according to the killing letter, Hosea the prophet will unite not only with a harlot, but also with an adulteress (Hos. 1). But if we are really left to rage in lust with all women and, like Sodom and Gomorrah, to be caught on the last day by those selling and buying, marrying and giving in marriage (Matthew 24:38), so that married life ceases only with the end of life - and if both after the flood and before the flood this definition was in force: be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28), then what is this to us, who have reached the ends of the ages, to whom it is said: the time is already short (1 Cor. 7:29) and: the ax is already lying at the root of the trees (Matthew 3:10; Luke 3:9), which with the purity of the Gospel cuts through the forest of law and polygamy? A time to embrace, and a time to shrink from embraces (Eccl. 3:5). Jeremiah was forbidden to drink his wife before his captivity. Ezekiel in Babylon said: “My wife is dead and my mouth is open” (Ezekiel 24:18). Neither one who intends to marry nor one who is married in a marriage state can prophesy freely. In ancient times it was a glory to hear the verses: Your sons are like olive branches around your table; and: You will see your sons' sons (Ps. 127). Now it is said about those who abstain from marriage: he who is united to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17) and: my soul is clinging to You; Your right hand upholds me (Ps. 62:9). Then an eye for an eye; Now we offer the other one to the one who strikes the cheek. At that time it was said to the warriors: gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One (Ps. 45:4), and Peter hears: Return Your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword (Matt. 26:52). I say this not dividing the law and the Gospel, as Marcion falsely claims, but accepting one and the same God, who, by the difference of times, determines both the beginning of things and the end; he sows in order to reap; plants so that there is something to chop; lays the foundation to complete the building at the end of the century. On the other hand, if we move on to the mysteries and penetrate - not on our own, but according to the apostle's explanation - to the contemplation of prototypes: we will learn that Hagar and Sarah, or Mount Sinai and Mount Zion, mean two covenants. Leah with the sick eyes and Rachel, whom Jacob loved more (Gen. 29), signify the synagogue and the church. Hence Anna, who was barren at first, was more prolific in childbearing than Peninn (1 Samuel 1). - However, monogamy existed before us - with Isaac and Rebekah, who gave birth alone by the revelation of the Lord (Gen. 25:23). And no other woman determined the will of God by herself 46 . What can we say about Tamar, who gave birth to two twins, Zerah and Perez? At their birth, the division of the barrier separated the two peoples, and the scarlet bandage even then stained the conscience of the Jews with the suffering of Christ. And the prophetic harlot means either a church assembled from the pagans, or (which is more consistent with the context itself) a synagogue, initially assembled by Abraham and Moses from the pagans, then, after fornication and the rejection of the Savior, sitting for a long time without an altar, priests and prophets and seeking communion with her former husband, so that after the full number of the pagans enters, all Israel will receive salvation. I kind of wanted to show the vast expanses of land on a small board in order to move on to other issues. The first one is about Anna's advice: Are you really dragging out your eternal youth in boredom alone? Have you really not recognized the happiness of children and the sweet gifts of Venus? And do you think that the souls or bones of the dead care about this? The sufferer herself briefly answers this: Sister! My tears amaze you. I'm in despair And you bring disaster upon me, you betray me to the enemy. I'm ashamed of living a pure life outside of marriage Lead and listen to such advice in a secular way. Where will be the loyalty that I promised to the dear ashes of Zichei? You offer me the joy of marriage; I will offer you a fire, a sword and a fire. In marriage, there is not so much good that we expect, but rather evil that can happen and which we must fear. Satisfied lust always leaves behind remorse, is never satisfied and, having died out, is rekindled again. From satisfaction it strengthens, but does not weaken, and, guided by instinct, does not obey reason. You will say: large estates and management of the household require the authority of the husband, i.e. widows' houses were upset. And if you yourself did not take care of business together with your maids, you would not be able to manage your household. Do your grandmother, mother and aunt really not have the same authority and do not enjoy greater honor than you, when they are respected by the whole province and the head of the church? Don’t warriors and travelers run their households without their wives, don’t they invite and are not invited to dinners? As if you cannot have servants of proven honesty, or freedmen, in whose hands you were raised, who would manage the house, bear public duties, pay taxes, who revered you as a mistress, loved you as a pupil, respected you as a saint. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). If you care about clothing, then in the Gospel they offer you lilies for your edification; if it’s about food, look at the birds that neither sow nor reap, and your heavenly Father feeds them. How many girls and widows managed their households without any dishonor from rumors! Beware of company with young girls, do not cleave to those for whom the apostle allows a second marriage, and keep the wrecked ship in a calm place. If Timothy is told: do not accept young widows (1 Tim. 5:11) and also: love old women as mothers; young as sisters, with all purity (ibid. 5:2), then why do you not listen to my admonitions? Avoid persons who may be suspected of bad behavior, and do not let the street proverb be on your tongue: “My conscience is enough for me; I don’t care what people say about me.” And the apostle provided for good not only before God, but also before people (Rom. 12), so that through him the name of God would not be blasphemed among the pagans (ibid., 2:24). He, of course, had the power to lead his sister-wife, but he did not want to be judged by an incorrect conscience; and although he could live from the gospel, he worked day and night with his hands, so as not to burden any of the believers. If, he says, food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat (1 Cor. 8:13). Let us also say: if a sister or brother seduces not one or the other, but the whole church, then I will not see either brother or sister. It is better to suffer damage to your household than to lose the salvation of your soul. It’s better to lose something that, whether we want it or not, must perish. It is better to leave voluntarily than to lose something in place of which everything should be left. Which of us, I don’t say, an elbow is a lot, but can add even a tenth of an ounce to his height? And after that we worry about what to eat, or what to wear? Let us not think about tomorrow: each day has enough of its own worries (Matthew 6:34). Jacob, running away from his brother, leaving great wealth in his father's house, retires naked to Mesopotamia, and presenting us with an example of his courage, puts a stone under his head, sees a ladder reaching to heaven and the Lord establishing himself at the top of it, along which angels ascended and descended (Gen. 28:5) - so that the sinner would not despair of his salvation, and the righteous would not be careless in his virtue. And without mentioning much (because this is not the time to explain everything in the testimony given), the one who once crossed the Jordan with a stick, after twenty years returns to his fatherland as a rich master and a very rich father, returns with three large herds. The apostles, wandering throughout the world, had neither copper in their belts, nor a staff in their hands, nor boots on their feet, but they could say: we have nothing, but we possess everything (2 Cor. 6:10). We do not have gold or silver, but what we have we give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk (Acts 3:6). They were not burdened with the weight of wealth, and that is why, standing with Elijah in the cleft of the mountain, they could pass through the ears of needles and contemplate the back of the Lord (1 Kings 19). But we are consumed by the love of money and, ranting against money, we fill our bosoms with gold and are not satisfied with anything. What is said about the Megarians can rightly be applied to us pitiful people: “they build as if they intended to live forever, and they live as if they were going to die the next day.” And we do this because we do not believe the words of the Lord and because we think that the life desired by everyone does not border on death, which all mortals are subject to according to the law of nature, but we delude ourselves with the hope that life promises us many more years. There is no one who is so weak in strength and so old that he does not think that he will survive at least one more year. Therefore, forgetting about his purpose, he crawls like an earthly animal and, about to die, is puffed up with pride and owns the sky in his soul. But what am I doing? I'm talking about goods after a shipwreck. He who restrains is taken from the environment 47, but we do not understand that the Antichrist is approaching, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of His mouth (2 Thess. 2:8). Woe to those who are pregnant and to those nursing breasts in those days (Mark 13:17 and Luke 21:23); and both are a consequence of marriage. I will mention few of the real disasters. If there are still a few of us left, it is not because of our merit, but because of the mercy of God. Countless and fierce peoples occupied all of Gaul. O republic worthy of tears! Everything lying between the Alps and the Pyrenees, everything between the ocean and the Rhine, was devastated by enemies - the Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Alans, Gepids, Heruli, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemans, and Pannonians. And Assur came to them (Ps. 82:9). The once famous city of Moguitiak is taken and destroyed, and many thousands of people are killed in the church. After a long siege, the Vingions were exterminated. The main city of Remov, Ambian, Attrebites and the city 48 Morina, Tornak, Nemety, Argentorat, located on the extreme limits of human habitation, were transferred to Germany. In Aquitaine and in the provinces of the nine nations, Lyons and Narbonne, everything was destroyed, except for a few cities. From without, these provinces are devastated by the sword, and within by famine. I cannot remember without tears about Toulouse, which, thanks to the valor of the holy Bishop Exuperia, has not yet fallen. Spain is about to perish, constantly trembles, remembering the invasion of the Cimbri, and what others once endured, she constantly experiences in fear. I don’t talk about other things, so as not to seem despairing of God’s mercy. Once upon a time, what is now ours, from the Pontic Sea to the Julian Alps, was not ours. After the enemies crossed the Danube border, war raged within the Roman Empire for thirty years. The tears have dried up from long ago. Since, except for a few old people, everyone was born into slavery, no one wanted freedom, which they did not know. Who will believe this? What history will convey in a worthy word that Rome, among its possessions, wages war not for glory, but for the sake of salvation, and does not even wage war, but buys life with gold and all its property? This happened not due to the negligence of the pious emperors 49, but due to the malice of a semi-barbarian traitor, who, with our own money, armed enemies against us 50. The Roman Empire once covered itself with eternal shame when, during the devastating Gallic invasion, Brennus, having defeated the army at Allia, entered Rome. Rome could not wash away its former ignominy until it conquered with its power both Gaul, the natural country of the Gauls, and Gallo-Greece, in which the victors of the east and west settled. Hannibal - this storm that rose from the borders of Spain - having devastated Italy, saw the city 51, but did not dare to besiege it. Such great glory of the Roman name deterred Pyrrhus, so that, having destroyed everything, he retreated, being already not far from Rome, and the victor did not dare to look at the city, known to him as the city of kings. However, for such injustice (I will not say pride), which ended happily, one 52 of both warriors, being an exile in the whole world, finally died of poison in Bithynia, the other 53, upon returning to his fatherland, died in his kingdom, and the peoples living in the regions of both pay tribute to the Romans. Now, in order for everything to end justly, except for what we lost, we have nothing to take away from the defeated enemies. The inspired poet, describing the power of the city of Rome, exclaims: “What is enough if Rome is small?” 54 (Lucan. in V Pharsal.). I would put it in other words: “What will be saved if Rome perishes?” If I had a hundred tongues and a hundred mouths, Iron voice, even then I could not count All the torment of the prisoners, all the names of the killed. And this very thing that I was talking about (i.e., the fall of Rome) threatens both those who speak and those who listen, so that even our lamentation is not free, since we do not want, we do not even dare to cry about our suffering. Tell me, beloved daughter of Christ, do you really want to get married amid such circumstances? What kind of husband will you marry? “Is it for the one who will run away, or for the one who will fight?” You know what follows this or that. Instead of the Fescennin 55 song, the rude sound of a military trumpet will growl at you, so that the matchmakers accompanying you will perhaps cry. Or what pleasures will you enjoy, having lost the income from your estates, and seeing how your family, oppressed by an enemy invasion, suffers from illness and hunger? But no, I don’t want to think this about you and suspect anything bad about the one who dedicated her soul to the Lord. I spoke not so much to you as to others under your name, idle chatterers and gossips, instilled around the houses of matrons, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame (Phil. 3:19), who know nothing else from Scripture except the commandment of bigamy, who indulge their whims on the skin of others, so that they can see others doing the same thing that they themselves have done, and enjoy the company of bad women. When you have destroyed their shamelessness and their suggestions by explaining the apostolic opinions, then for edification of how you should live in widowhood, read the book to Eustochia on maintaining virginity 56 and other books to Furia 57 and Salvina 58, of which one is the daughter-in-law of Probus, who was once consul, and the other is the daughter of Gildon, who owned Africa. This book, written to you, will bear the title – about monogamy. About what one should beware of in the book περί α ̓ ρχών About ten years ago, the holy man Pammachius sent me someone’s notebooks, which contained the translated but damaged works of Origen περί α ρχών, earnestly asking that the meaning of the Greek original be retained in the Latin translation, and whether the author spoke well or badly, in either case everything was translated into Latin without limits to the influence of the translator. I did as he wanted and sent him the books; he was horrified when he read them and locked them in a box so that they would not offend many if they were put into circulation. When one brother, zealous for God, and not for knowledge, asked him to give him these books to read, promising to return them soon, then (Pammachius), giving the books for a short time, could not suspect the trick. But having received the books to read, this brother, calling on copyists, copied the entire work, and returned the books much sooner than he promised, and with the same recklessness and (to put it more moderately) lack of understanding, he believed what he had so wickedly stolen to others. Since large books that treat mysterious subjects can hardly withstand abbreviations by signs, especially when such books are dictated in fits and starts, everything is mixed up in these books, so that in many places there is neither order nor meaning. Therefore, you, beloved Avit, ask me to send you a copy, translated by me long ago and not given to anyone else, which was published in a distorted form by the above-mentioned brother. Accept what you asked, but know that in these books you must turn away from many things and, according to the word of the Lord, walk among scorpions and snakes (Luke 10:19). So in the first book it is written: that Christ the Son of God was not born, but created; that God the Father, by his invisible nature, cannot be seen even by the Son; that it is not true that the Son, who is the image of the invisible Father, is equal to the Father; that we, who cannot perceive the truth from Almighty God, contemplate figurative truth, so that the glory and greatness of the greater (the Father) are felt in the Son, as it were, only in outline, that God the Father is an incomprehensible light; that Christ, in comparison with the Father, is a very small (parvulum) light, which to us, due to our weakness, seems great. He (Origen) presents an example of two statues - a large and a relatively small one - one fills the world and, in its greatness, is as if invisible, the other is visible to the eye; The first is likened to the Father, the last is the Son. He calls God the Father omnipotent good and God of perfect goodness; and the Son (in his opinion) is not good, but some reflection and image of goodness, so that he is not called unconditionally good, but with the addition of the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14) and so on. Affirms that the Holy Spirit is third in dignity and honor after the Father and the Son. Having said that he does not know whether He is the created Holy Spirit or uncreated, the author subsequently expressed his thoughts about the Holy Spirit, asserting that besides God the Father alone there is nothing uncreated: he also says that the Son is less than the Father because he exists second from Him, and that the Holy Spirit, inferior to the Son, dwells in some saints, and that, in this order, the power of the Father is greater than the power of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that also the power of the Son is greater than the Holy Spirit, and at the same time the power of the Holy Spirit itself is greater than everything else that is called holy. And having moved on to rational creatures and saying that for their negligence they were cast into earthly bodies, the author added the following: “as a result of great negligence and carelessness, everyone falls so much and loses his dignity that, falling into crime, he can unite with the gross body of unreasonable animals.” And then he says: “based on these considerations, we think that some, of their own free will, remain among the saints and in the service of God, while others, falling from the state of holiness through their own fault, reach such negligence that they even turn into forces of resistance.” He also (says) that the beginning comes from the end and the end from the beginning, and everything changes so much that just as someone who is now a man in another world can become a demon, so a demon, if he lives carelessly, can be sent into the coarsest bodies, that is, become a man. And he mixes everything up so much that he makes it possible for an archangel to become a devil, and for the devil to turn into an angel. “And those who wavered, but did not fall during the hesitation, for the purpose of governing leadership and direction for the better, will be subject to principles, authorities, thrones, dominions, and perhaps from them in one of the worlds a race of people will arise when, according to Isaiah, there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Is. 65:17). And those who are unworthy through a generation of people will return to their previous state, will become the devil and his angels and the worst demons, and, according to the difference in merit in each world, will receive different duties.” And the very demons and rulers of darkness in some world or worlds, if they want to turn to the better, become human and thus return to their previous beginning, but achieve angelic dignity only through punishment and torment, which they will endure for a long or short time in the bodies of people. It is further proven that all rational creatures can come from people, and not just once or instantly, but repeatedly, and that we and the angels, if we live carelessly, will become demons, and vice versa, demons, if they want to acquire virtue, achieve angelic dignity. Also (he says) that corporeal beings will be completely destroyed, and without a doubt at the end of the whole body of all they will be either what is now ether and heaven, or something that can be imagined even more subtle and pure. If so, then it is clear that he is thinking about the resurrection. He also says that the sun, moon and stars are animate beings, even that just as we humans, for our sins, were clothed in these coarse and white bodies, so the heavenly bodies received one or another body in order to shine more or less, and that demons, for great sins, were clothed with an airy body, that every creation, according to the word of the Apostle, is subject to vanity and will be set free at the revelation of the sons of God (Rom. 8:19–20). And so that no one thinks that I am making it up on my own, I will quote his own words: “When, at the end and destruction of the world, souls and rational creatures are released by the Lord, as if from some gates and prisons, then some of them, out of carelessness, will come out later, while others, out of their equality, will fly with speed. So, since everyone has free will and can voluntarily indulge in either virtues or vices; then the former will be in a much worse state than now, and the latter will pass into a better state, since differences in the movement and disposition of the will in one direction or another will receive different states, i.e. so they will be angels, men or demons, and vice versa from demons men or angels.” And after various reasonings about all this, proving that the devil is not capable of virtue, but does not yet want to follow virtue, in conclusion he argues at great length that an angel, or a soul, or a demon, which, in his opinion, have the same nature, but different wills, for great negligence and lack of understanding can become beasts and, instead of enduring torment and the flame of fire, may wish to become irrational animals, live in the waters and seas and accept the body of one or another livestock - so we should be afraid of the bodies of not only four-legged animals, but also fish. And finally, in order not to be accused of the teaching of Pythagoras, who proves μετερψύχωσις (transmigration of souls), after such a vile reasoning, which outraged the mind of the reader, he says: “this, in accordance with our opinion, should not be considered dogmas, but only questions and assumptions - so that it does not seem completely wild.” And in the second book he asserts that there are countless worlds, that, contrary to Epicurus, these very many worlds do not exist simultaneously and that they are not similar to each other, but that, at the end of one world, another begins - that before this world of ours there was a certain world; after it there will be another, and after that another, and so on new worlds one after another. He (Origen) doubts whether one world will be so similar to another in all parts that, apparently, they will not differ in anything from each other, or whether one world will never be completely like another to the point of complete indifference. And soon after this (as the very order of reasoning requires) he says: “if everything lives without a body, if all corporeal nature is abolished and what was once created from nothing turns into nothing, then there will be a time when its use will again be necessary.” And after this he says: “And if, as has been proven by reason and the authority of the scriptures, this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Cor. 15), and if death is swallowed up in victory and corruption in incorruption, then all corporeal nature in which death alone can act can be taken from the environment.” And a little later: “If this is not contrary to faith, then perhaps we will one day live without a body. If perfect submission to Christ is understood outside the body, and everyone must be subject to Christ, then we will also be without bodies when we are completely subjugated to Him.” And in the same place: “if everyone is submissive to God, then everyone will put aside their bodies, and then the whole nature of bodily things will be resolved into nothingness. If necessity requires it, then it (corporal nature) will exist again due to the fall of rational creatures. God gave souls over to struggle and struggle, so that they would understand that they had achieved complete and perfect victory not by their own strength, but by the grace of God. And therefore I think that according to the difference in guilt, worlds are different, and that this refutes the errors of those who prove that worlds are similar to one another.” And again: “so we are presented with three assumptions about the end of the world: - which of them is true and which is better, let the reader investigate. Or: we will live without a body, because having been subdued to Christ, we will be subdued to God, and God will be all in all; or: since what is subjugated to Christ with Christ himself will be subjugated to God and united into one union, then in accordance with this, every substance will be converted into a better quality and resolved into the ether, which is the purest and simplest property of nature; or, finally: that sphere, which we above called α ̓ πλανη 59 and everything that is surrounded by it will turn into nothing; and that sphere, which embraces α ̓ ιτιζώνη 60, will be called the good earth, and the other sphere, which revolves around our earth itself and is called heaven, will be assigned to the dwelling of the saints.” In saying this, does he not most obviously follow the errors of the pagans, and does he not introduce the nonsense of philosophers into Christian simplicity? And in the same book: “and, therefore, God is invisible; and if He is invisible by nature, then He will not be visible to the Savior either.” And below: “no other soul descending into the human body reflects in itself a pure and akin likeness of the former seal, except the one about which the Savior says: no one takes my soul from Me, but I myself give it (John 10:18).” And in another place: “therefore, we must discuss with the greatest severity: whether souls will not cease to be souls when they receive salvation and achieve a blessed life. For, since the Lord and Savior came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10), so that it would cease to be lost: then the soul, when it perished and for whose salvation the Lord came, when it is saved, will cease to be a soul. In the same way, the following thought needs to be discussed: just as the lost was not once lost, and there will be a time when it will not be lost: so the soul, although it was once a soul, will not perhaps a time come when it will in no way be a soul? And after many discussions about the soul he added: “νούς i.e. The mind, as a result of the fall, becomes a soul, and vice versa, the soul, having learned virtues, becomes the mind. When we study this, we can find confirmation in the soul of Esau that for his previous sins he was condemned to a worse life. And regarding the celestial bodies, it must be assumed that the soul (or whatever we call it) of the sun did not receive at the time when the world was created, but before it entered this luminous and burning body. In the same way, we must think about the moon and the stars - that they were forced to submit to vanity for previous faults, to submit not voluntarily, not of their own free will, but according to the will of the Creator, Who showed them their ranks.” Also the fire of Gehenna and the torment with which St. Scripture threatens sinners, he believes, “not in torment, but in the conscience of sinners, when by the power and might of God the full remembrance of sins will appear before our eyes. As if from some seeds left in the soul, a whole field of vices grows, so that before our eyes is drawn a picture of everything that we have done in life that is vile or dishonest, and the mind, imagining former lusts, is executed by the fire of conscience and pierced by the arrows of repentance.” And again: “this plump and earthly body must truly be called darkness and darkness; why, after the destruction of this world, when it is necessary to move to another world, it will again receive the makings of revival.” In saying this, he is obviously defending the μετερψύχωσις (transmigration of souls) of Protagoras and Plato. And at the end of the second book, discussing our perfection, he added: “and when we improve so much that we become not flesh and bodies, even perhaps not souls, but mind and feeling, constantly improving and not darkened by any cloud of worries, then we will contemplate intelligent and rational substances face to face.” The third book contains the following misconceptions: “if we once accepted that for previous deeds one vessel was created in honor, the other not in honor, then why don’t we penetrate into the innermost secrets of the soul and draw the conclusion that over time it manifested activity for which in one it was loved, in another it was hated (Mal. 1: 2), so that before it overcame its brother in the body of Jacob, it had already held on to Esau’s heel” ( Gen. 25:26). And again: “that some souls are honored, others not, is a consequence of their previous merits or crimes.” And in the same place: “in our opinion, in accordance with previous merits, a vessel created in honor, if we do a deed unworthy of our name, in another century will be a vessel of dishonor; and, on the contrary, that vessel, which for previous crimes received a low purpose, if in this life it wants to correct itself, in the new creation will be a sanctified vessel, pleasing to the Lord and prepared for every good deed.” Then he adds: “I think that some people, starting with small vices, can reach such wickedness (unless they want to turn to the better and atone for their sins with repentance) that they even become opposing forces; and conversely, some of the hostile and opposing forces, over a long period of time, manage to heal their wounds so much and curb the lusts that enslave them that they move to the place of the elect. We have very often said that in the endless and continuously ongoing worlds in which the soul exists and lives, some of them (souls) fall so low that they reach the extreme degree of wickedness, and some succeed so much that from the last stage of wickedness they achieve complete and perfect virtue.” With these words he tries to prove that “people, i.e. souls can become demons, and vice versa, demons can return to angelic dignity.” And in the same book: “but we also need to think about why the human soul sometimes deviates from one or other virtues in the opposite direction.” He thinks that the merits of some people preceded their union with bodies, as shown by the example of John, who leaped in his mother’s womb, while Elizabeth, in response to Mary’s greeting, recognizes herself as unworthy of an interview with Her. Then he adds: “on the contrary, even children, and almost infants, are filled with evil spirits and from them they receive the inspiration of soothsayers and fortune-tellers, so that the Pythian demon takes possession of some from childhood; but that they were abandoned by God’s providence, when they did nothing such that they could endure such injustice, is not the way to think for someone who believes that nothing is done without the will of God, and everything is governed by His truth.” And again he says about the world: “it seems to us that before this world there was another world, and after this there will be another. Do you want to make sure that after the destruction of this world there will be another? - listen to Isaiah, who says: the new heavens and the new earth, which I will create, will always be before Me (Is. 66:22). Do you want to know that before the formation of this world, other worlds existed? – Listen to Ecclesiastes: what has been is what will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. There is something about which they say: “look, this is new”; but this was already in the ages that were before us (Eccl. 1:9-10). This evidence shows that the worlds not only existed, but will also exist, that they will not exist together and not all in the same way, but one after the other”; and then adds: “I think that the home of the deity and true peace should be found in heaven; here in God, rational creatures once enjoyed bliss before they descended to lower levels, moved from the realm of the invisible to the realm of the visible, and, falling to the ground, clothed themselves with coarse bodies. That is why the Creator God created for them bodies consistent with their lower places, and arranged this visible world; and for the salvation and correction of the fallen, he sent ministers into the world so that some of them would constantly occupy certain places and serve the needs of the world, and others would fulfill the duties assigned to them with a diligent mind at some special times, which the Creator God knows about. Of the first, the highest places in the world were occupied by the sun, moon and stars, which the apostle calls creation. This creation is subject to vanity (Rom. 8:20) in that it is clothed with gross bodies and is subject to sight. However, it is not voluntarily subjected to vanity, but by the will of him who subjected it in hope.” Likewise: “and others (servants) are appointed to govern the world in special places and at special times, which are in charge of one Creator; we believe that they are angels." And a little later: “This order of affairs of the whole world is controlled by providence: some forces fall from the highest degrees, others fall little by little to the earth; some fall voluntarily, while others fall by force; some voluntarily accept appointments to help those who are falling, others are forced against their will to remain for a very long time in the accepted service.” And one more thing: “from this it follows that as a result of different movements of the will, different worlds are created, and after this world in which we live, there will be another one in many ways similar to this one. With various falls and successes, no one else can determine rewards for virtues, or punishments for vices, nor distribute retribution in the present and in the future, and in all previous and subsequent times, and direct everything towards one end - except for the One Creator of all God, who knows the reasons why he allows some to be guided by their own will and little by little from the highest degrees to fall to the lowest, begins to protect others and gradually, as if stretched out hand, raise it to its previous state and place it in high degrees.” Having begun to talk about the end (of the world), he said: “since (as we have often said) from the end the beginning again comes, the question is whether there will be bodies even then, or will it once be necessary to live without a body, when they are turned into nothing, and should one believe that the life of the incorporeal is incorporeal, like the life of God? There is no doubt; for if all the bodies which the apostle calls visible belong to this sensible world, then the life of the incorporeal will be incorporeal.” And a little lower: “and what the same apostle said: the creation itself will be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21) we understand that the first creation is the creation of rational and incorporeal beings, which is not slave to corruption, because it is not clothed with bodies, and wherever there are bodies, decay immediately follows. Subsequently, it will be freed from slavery to corruption, when the sons of God receive glory and God will be all in all.” And in the same place: “And so that we may believe that the end of all things is immaterial, the speech of the Savior convinces us of this, in which He says: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be one in Us (John 17:21). We must determine what God is and what the Savior is who is to come, and how the likeness to the Father and the Son is promised for the saints, so that just as these (the Father and the Son) are one in themselves, so they are one in them. We must either accept that God is clothed with the body of all things, and just as we are clothed with bodies, so He is clothed with some kind of matter, so that at the end (of the world) the likeness of the life of God can be applied to the saints; or, if this is incongruous, especially in the eyes of those who want (in this case) to feel the greatness of God even in an infinitesimal part (of the world) and recognize in the world the power of natural and all-producing nature: then it remains to accept one of two things: - either not to hope for likeness to God if we always have the same bodies - or, if we are promised bliss in a life identical with God, to admit that we will live in the same conditions in which God lives. From all this it is clear what he thinks about the resurrection - it is clear that he claims that all bodies are destroyed, so that we will be without bodies, as we were before being clothed with gross bodies. And again discussing the difference between the worlds and asserting that either from the angels there will be demons, or from the demons there will be angels, or people, and vice versa - from people there will be demons and all of all, - his opinion concludes as follows: “there is no doubt that after several periods of time matter will again exist, there will be bodies and the diversity of the world will be arranged due to the difference in the dispositions of the will of rational creatures, which, after perfect bliss, towards the end of all things, little by little, will fall upon the lower levels will reach such wickedness that they will turn into opposing forces because they do not want to maintain dignity and enjoy undisturbed bliss. It cannot be denied that many intelligent creatures will retain dignity in the second, third and fourth world, and will not change; others will lose so little from their previous state that they will seem to have lost nothing, and some with a great fall will be cast into the final abyss. The Lord of all, God, in the arrangement of the worlds, knows how to give to everyone what they deserve, and He is visible to the ways and principles by which the government of the world is supported and organized, so that in wickedness he has surpassed everyone and is almost equal to the earth, in another world that will be formed later, he will be the devil, the beginning of resistance to the Lord, so that the angels will laugh at him, not having retained their former dignity.” With these words, what else can be proven other than that the sinners of this world in another world can be the devil and demons, and that, on the contrary, the present demons in another world can become angels or people? And after this long argument, in which he says that every corporeal creature will change into spiritual and light bodies, and everything that exists will turn into one purest body, clearer than any light, and such as the human mind can only now imagine, he finally says: and God will be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28), so that every corporeal nature will turn into that substance that is better than all, i.e. into the divine, which is better than none.” And in the fourth book - the last book of his work - he among other things states the following, which should be condemned by the Church of Christ: “and it may be that, just as those who die during the separation of soul and body in this world, according to the difference in their deeds, receive different places in hell, so those who die (so to speak) in the region of heavenly Jerusalem fall into the hell of our world, so that according to the quality of their merits they receive different places on earth.” And again: “and since we compared the souls descending to hell from this world with those souls who, as it were, die, falling from the highest heaven into our vale; then we need to carefully examine: - can we say the same about the origin of souls - that just as the souls born on this earth of ours, either, being perfected, ascend to the highest levels from hell and take on a human body, or from better places descend even to us, so the highest places in the firmament are occupied only by souls - those who from our dwellings have reached the best; other souls, those who fell from the heavenly regions to the firmament, did not sin so much as to be condemned to the places we occupy.” With these words he tries to prove that the firmament, i.e. heaven, in comparison with the highest heaven, is hell, and that this earth on which we live, in comparison with solidity, can be called hell, and again, in comparison with the hell that is below us, the places we occupy can be called heaven, so that what is hell for some is heaven for others. And not content with such reasoning, he says: “at the end of all things, when we return to the heavenly Jerusalem, the opposing forces will rise up in war against the people of God, so that the strength of the people of God will not remain inactive, but developed in the struggle and so that this strength will have a goal that they could not achieve if they had not first bravely resisted their enemies,” about whom in the book of Numbers we read that they were defeated by numbers, and harmony and art in reflection (Num. 10:26–33). And having said, according to the Apocalypse of John (Apocalypse 4:6), that the eternal, i.e. having to be in heaven, the Gospel is so superior to this our Gospel, so much is the preaching of Christ's sacred rites of the Old Testament, finally he added (which is sacrilegious to even think about) that in order to save the demons, Christ will suffer both in the air (i.e., the firmament) and in the high-lying regions. And although he did not express it, it is clear what follows from this: just as for people He became a man in order to free people, so for the salvation of demons God will become the same as those for whose liberation He comes. And so that they do not think that I am saying this on my own, it is necessary to quote his own words: “for just as He completed the canopy of the Gospel to the canopy of the law, so since every law is the image and canopy of the sacred rites of heaven (coeremoniarum coelestium), we must most carefully consider whether we rightly recognize that both the heavenly law and the sacred rites of the highest religion do not have perfect completeness 61; but we also need the truth of the Gospel, which in the Apocalypse of John is called the eternal Gospel, that is, in comparison with this Gospel of ours, which is temporary and preached in this transitory world and age. And if we want to apply research to the suffering of the Lord the Savior, then although it is bold and reckless to admit that He suffered in heaven, but if in heaven there are spiritual expressions of wickedness, and if, for the sake of resolving what the Lord destroyed by His suffering, we are not ashamed to confess His cross: then why should we be afraid to assume something similar at the end of the ages and in the highest places - so that the inhabitants of all places would be saved by His suffering? And again blaspheming, he said this about the Son: “If the Son knows the Father, then in the fact that He knows the Father, apparently the idea is that he can embrace him, just as we would say that the spirit of the artist knows the dignity of the work of art. And there is no doubt that if the Father is in the Son, then he is embraced by him in whom he exists. If we call hugging such a relationship when someone hugs not only with his mind and wisdom, but also contains with his will and strength, then we cannot say that the Son hugs the Father; and the Father embraces everything, and since the Son is also in the concept of everything, therefore he also embraces the Son.” And so that we know the reasons why the Father embraces the Son, but the Son cannot embrace the Father, he adds the following words: “Let the inquisitive reader consider whether the Father knows himself in the same way as he is known by the Son; remembering what is written: My Father is greater than I (John 14:28), he must agree that it is fair to say that the Father is also in knowledge greater than the Son, since by himself he is known more perfectly and purer than he is known by the Son.” This again leads him to the idea of ​​transmigration of souls and destruction of bodies. “If someone (he says) could prove that the incorporeal and rational nature, when it casts off the body, lives by itself, and when it puts on bodies, it is in a worse state, and when it casts off, it is in a better state: then no one would doubt that bodies do not exist from the beginning, but arise after time and due to various revolutions in rational creatures, so that those who should be clothed with them are clothed with them (bodies), and again, when from humiliation and fall they are corrected for the better, then the bodies turn into nothing, and thus change in a constant transformation.” And so that we do not consider all of the above to be an unimportant delusion, at the end of the same book he adds that all rational creatures, i.e. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, angels, principalities, dominions and other powers and man himself according to the dignity of the soul - one nature (substantie). “The intelligent and rational nature,” he says, is felt by God, and by His Only Begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, by angels and principalities and other powers, and by the inner man, who is created in the image and likeness of God. From this it follows that God and these (rational creatures) are, as it were, of one nature (substantie).” He adds one word “as if” in order to avoid the charge of so great a blasphemy, and he, who in another place does not want to acknowledge the Son and the Holy Spirit from the being of the Father (de Patris esse substantia), so as not to show those who are cutting the deity into pieces, assimilates the nature of Almighty God to angels and men. If so, then what madness, having changed a little about the Son and the Holy Spirit, which contains obvious blasphemy, to publish everything else as it is written, and praise it with ungodly lips - when both, without a doubt, came from the same source of wickedness! Now is not the time to write against all this, and all those who wrote against Arius, Eupomius, Manichaeans and various heresies should be recognized as denouncers of these wicked opinions. So, whoever wants to read these books and go with shod feet into the land of promise, so as not to be bitten by snakes somewhere and not receive a sharp wound from a scorpion, let him first read this book, and before he sets off, he will know what he must beware of. 101. Letter to the Rustic monk There is nothing happier than a Christian, because he is promised the kingdom of heaven; there is nothing more suffering, because he daily laments about his life, there is nothing stronger, because he defeats the devil, and there is nothing weaker, because he is conquered by the flesh. There are many examples of all this. The thief on the cross believes and is immediately worthy to hear: truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Judas is cast out of his apostolic ministry into the hell of destruction, and neither by a friendly address, nor by the foretelling of a piece of bread, nor by the caress of a kiss is he kept from being betrayed as a man whom he knew to be the Son of God. What is more despicable than the Samaritan woman? However, she not only believed herself and after six husbands found one - the Lord and at the source she recognized him as the Messiah, whom the people did not recognize in the Jewish church, but she was also the author of the salvation of many and, while the apostles buy food, she satisfies the hungry and gives rest to the weary (John 4). Who is wiser than Solomon? And yet, in lust with women, he loses his mind (1 Kings 11:1). Salt is good, and no sacrifice is made without sprinkling it (Lev. 2). Therefore, the apostle commands: let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt (Col. 4:6). If it takes over, it is thrown out (Matthew 5:13) and loses its strength so much that it becomes useless even in the methods with which believers usually fertilize the fields and fatten the barren soil of souls. I said this, my son Rustic, in order to teach you from the very beginning to undertake great things and strive for the highest and, trampling on the desire of youth and immature age, ascends to the measure of perfect age, but at the same time - to show that the path on which you are embarking is slippery, and that what results here is not so much glory after victory, but disgrace after a fall. Now I don’t need to conduct a stream through the fields of virtues, I don’t need to work to show you the beauty of various flowers: how much purity lilies have in themselves, what modesty a rose has, how much purple violets promise in the kingdom of heaven, what promises the picturesque appearance of reddish blossoming buds contains. You, by the grace of the Lord, are already holding the handle of the plow. You have already ascended with the Apostle Peter onto the roof and into the upper room - with Peter, who, not finding food among the Jews, is satisfied with the faith of Cornelius and satisfies the hunger of their (Jews) unbelief with the conversion of the pagans, and in the four-cornered vessel of the Gospels, which descended from heaven to earth, receives admonition and learns that all people can be saved. What is seen again ascends into the sky in the image of the whitest linen, and therefore the believers are taken away from earth to heaven, in fulfillment of the promise of the Lord: blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8). All that I, taking you by the hand, want to instill in you, all that I try to make you a winner in your inexperience, like an experienced helmsman after many shipwrecks, is that you know on which shore the pirates of chastity are; where is Charybdis and the root of all evil is the love of money; where the dogs of Scylla bark, about which the apostle speaks: if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you are not destroyed from one another (Gal. 5:15); how we sometimes, being safe, in the midst of silence, are overwhelmed by the Libyan and Syrian sands of vices; what poisonous animals does the desert of this world feed on? Those sailing on the Red Sea (we should wish that the true Pharaoh with all his army would drown in it) with the greatest difficulties and dangers reach the city of Auxumah 62 . On both shores of the sea live nomadic peoples - the wildest animals. Always restless, always armed, they carry with them food supplies for the whole year. There are so many dangerous pitfalls and shoals everywhere that an experienced helmsman must sit on the high crossbar of the mast and from there give orders on how to guide and navigate the ship. It is a happy journey if, after six months, they reach the pier of the above-mentioned city, from which the ocean begins to open, along which, barely within a year of constant navigation, they reach India and the Ganges River (mentioned in Holy Scripture under the name of Piso), which flows around the entire land of Epilus and from the source of paradise, they say, carries colors of various kinds. There will be born diamond and emerald, brilliant pearls and pearls, with which the ambition of noble women is kindled; there are golden mountains there. To show what guardians wealth has, they say that these mountains cannot be approached because of vultures, dragons and monsters of enormous size. What of this? Obviously, if the merchants of this century endure all this in order to achieve unfaithful and perishing wealth and in order to preserve what they have acquired with many dangers at the risk of their souls; What should a buyer do, who works in Christ - one who, having sold everything, is looking for the most precious pearl, who with all the property of his being buys a field in order to find in it a treasure that neither a thief could dig up nor a robber steal? I know that I will offend very many who take a general discussion about vices as a personal reproach; but, being angry with me, they reveal their conscience and think much worse about themselves than about me. I will not name anyone, I will not expose or scold famous persons, as was allowed in ancient comedy. A prudent husband and prudent women should hide and even correct what they notice in themselves (bad), be more indignant at themselves than at me, and not shower abuse on a mentor who, even if he was infected with the same vices, is, of course, better because he doesn’t like his vices. I know that you have a most pious mother, widowed for many years, who raised you, who taught you in childhood, and after being educated in Gaul in the sciences that flourish here (she tried not to encourage, but to keep you in your studies), without sparing costs, and not missing the absence of her son, in the hope of the future, she sent you to Rome, so that the richness and brilliance of the Gallic language would be seasoned with Roman severity, which we read and about the most eloquent men of Greece, who salted the Asian majesty of the style with Attic salt, and pruned the luxurious branches of the vine bushes with chamois, so that the clutches of eloquence were rich not in the foliage of words, but in the grape juice of thoughts. Respect her as a mother, love her as a teacher, honor her as a saint. Do not imitate the example of others who, leaving their own, become attached to others (women), whose dishonor is obvious, who, under the pretext of pious love (pietatis), seek suspicious associations 63. I know that some are already of mature age and quite a few of the freedwomen find pleasure in young men and seek spiritual sons, and then, having overcome their shame, they move on from imaginary maternal relations to marital pleasures. Others leave their sisters and get involved with outsiders. There are also those who hate their relatives and find no pleasure in their love; unbridledness - the hallmark of their soul - allows no excuse, and the useless veils of chastity are torn apart like the fabric of a spider's web. Look - some with girded loins, a dark tunic, a long beard cannot leave women, they live with them under the same roof, go to meetings with them, keep young maids in their service and, with the exception of the words of marriage, allow everything marriageable. And this is not a disgrace to the Christian name if an imaginary follower of religion lives in sin: on the contrary, it is even a disgrace to the pagans if they see that the churches do not approve of what all virtuous people do not like. And you, if you want to be, and not appear to be, a monk, take care not about economic and family affairs, from which you began monasticism by renouncing, but about your soul. Dirty clothes are a sign of a pure soul, a poor tunic shows contempt for the world; only at the same time the spirit should not be puffed up, so that clothing and speech do not disagree with each other. Anyone who wants to extinguish the heat of the body with the cold of fasting should not worry about steaming in baths. And the fasts themselves must be moderate, so that excessive fasts do not weaken the stomach and, requiring more rest, do not bring the body to the point of dampness, from which lust arises. Not in large quantities and moderate food is good for both body and soul. See your mother in such a way that through her you are not forced to see others, whose faces could cling to your heart and “live a silent wound in your chest” (Aeneid. 4). Know that the maids who are in her service are formidable to you, because the lower their position, the easier the fall. And John the Baptist had a holy mother and was the son of a high priest (pontificis), but neither the love of his mother nor the wealth of his father was inclined to live in his parents’ house with a danger to his chastity. He lived in the desert (Luke 1), and with his eyes fixed on Christ, he did not deign to see anything else. Rough clothing, a leather belt, food - locusts and wild honey - everything is associated with virtue and abstinence. The sons of the prophets (from the Old Testament we know that they were monks) built themselves huts by the streams of the Jordan and, leaving the noise of the cities, ate eggs and wild herbs (2 Kings 6). While you are in your homeland, consider your cell a paradise, pluck various fruits of the Scriptures, and enjoy their pleasures, enjoy their love. If an eye, a foot, or a hand offends you, pluck them out (Matthew 5). Spare nothing to spare one soul. Anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). Who can say: “I have cleansed my heart?” (Prov. 20:9). The stars are not pure in the eyes of the Lord: how much more are people (Job 25:5-6), whose life is a temptation? Woe to us, who lust so many times and commit fornication so many times. For, he says, My sword is drunk in heaven (Isa. 34:5): much more on the earth, which gives birth to thorns and thistles. The chosen vessel, in whose mouth there was an echo of Christ, mortifies his body and enslaves him (1 Cor. 9:27), and yet we see that the natural decay of the flesh fights against his mind, so that he is prompted to do what he does not want, and, as if enduring violence, he exclaims and says: poor man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death (Rom. 7:24)? Do you really think that you can pass without falling and being wounded if you do not guard your heart with every care and say with the Savior: My mother and My brothers are those who do the will of My Father (Matthew 12:50 and Mark 3:35)? This cruelty is love, even what is so loving as keeping a son holy for a holy mother? And she wishes you to live and not see you until the time comes, so that she can always see you with Christ. Hannah gave birth to Samuel not for herself, but for the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2). About the sons of Jonadab, who did not drink wine and strong drink, who lived in tents and had shelters necessary for the night, it is written in the Psalm (Ps. 70) that they were the first to be taken captive when, during the devastation of Judea by the Chaldean army, they were forced to appear in the cities. Let others reason as they wish, for everyone is guided by his own mind. But for me the city is a dungeon, and the desert is paradise. Why should we, who are considered singles (monks), desire the crowded cities? Moses, in order to lead the Jewish people, was raised in the desert for forty years (Ex. 3): a shepherd of sheep, he became a good shepherd of people. The apostles moved from fishing on Lake Gennesaret to catching people (Luke 5:10). Having at that time a father, a net, a boat, they, following the Lord, left absolutely everything, wearing a cross and not even having a staff in their hand. I say this so that you, if the desire for spiritual rank instigates you, learn what you can teach, and make a reasonable sacrifice to Christ; - so that you would not be a warrior without being a recruit, so that you would not be a teacher without being a student. It is not in my humility and my peace to judge clergy or say anything bad about church ministers. Let them have their own charter and their own rank, and if you receive it, then how you should live in this rank, the book written to Nepocyan can teach you this. I am now discussing the original rules and way of life of a monk - and such a monk who, having studied the liberal sciences in his youth, placed the yoke of Christ on his neck. And first of all, it must be said whether you should live alone or with others in the monastery. It seems to me better that you have fellowship with the saints 64 so that you do not teach yourself, do not walk without a guide along a path you have never walked, so that you do not quickly go astray in the opposite direction, do not be open to sin, do not walk more or less than you should, so that you do not get tired while running quickly, or do not fall asleep while resting. When you are alone, pride soon creeps in; and if a monk fasts a little and does not see a person, he thinks that he is something important, and forgetting about himself - where he comes from and where he is going - wanders inside with his heart and outside with his tongue. He judges, contrary to the will of the apostle, foreign slaves; reaches out his hand to whatever the throat wants; sleeps as much as he wants; fears nothing; does what he wants; He considers everyone inferior to himself and is more often in cities than in his cell, and, jostling among the street crowd, among the brethren he appears to be a modest man. So what? Do I disapprove of the hermit life? Not at all; I praised her quite often. But I want such warriors to emerge from the school of monasteries who would not be afraid of the harsh rules of the desert, who would be tested for a long time in communal life, who would be the least of all in order to be the first, who would never be overcome by either hunger or satiety, who are pleased with poverty, whose appearance, speech, face, gait represent a lesson in virtues, who do not know how, like some worthless people, to invent the horrors of demons rising against them, so that the ignorant and the common people can make a miracle out of themselves and benefit from it. Recently I saw and mourned that Croesus’s wealth was stolen by the death of one person and the city’s revenues, supposedly collected for the benefit of the poor, were left to heirs and posterity. Then the iron, hidden in the depths, floated to the surface of the water, and among the palm trees was the bitterness of Marah. And it is not surprising: he (the rich man) had such a friend and mentor who made the hunger of the poor his wealth, and saved what was given to the poor for his impoverishment. The cry of them (the poor) finally reached heaven and bowed the long-suffering ear of God: an evil angel was sent to say to Nabal of Carmel 65: crazy! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? (Luke 12:20). So I don’t want you to live with your mother, and for the reasons that I stated above, and therefore especially, so as not to offend her by refusing when she offers you exquisite dishes, or so as not to add fuel to the fire if you accept them, and so that, with many maids, you don’t see during the day what you could think about at night. May a book never leave your hands and eyes; Learn the psalter word for word, pray unfailingly, stay alert in your mind and do not open it to vain thoughts. Let the body, as well as the spirit, strive for the Lord. Overcome anger with patience: love the knowledge of the Scriptures, and you will not love carnal vices. Let your mind not be idle and occupied with various trifles, which, having taken possession of your heart, will prevail over you and lead you to great sin 66. Do something so that the devil always finds you busy. If the apostles, who had the right to live from the gospel, worked with their own hands so as not to be a burden to anyone, and even helped others, although they should have reaped their fleshly things for their spiritual ones (1 Cor. 9:11); then why don’t you prepare what you need for your needs? Either weave a basket from reeds, or make a basket from flexible broom; water the planted land; cut the beds at even distances and, when they are sown with vegetables or planted in rows, irrigate so that you can see before your eyes what these beautiful verses say: Here, from a high place, a stream emerges along a hilly path. She, falling, wakes up the smooth stones with an angry murmur And moistens dry fields with streams (Georg. lib. 3). Graft non-fruitful trees either with buds or shoots, so that in a short time you can taste the sweet fruits of your labor. Make hives for bees, to which I send you the Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 6:8, according to LXX), and in their small societies study both the monastic rules and royal discipline. Weave fishing nets, bind books, so that your hands can earn food and your spirit will be nourished by reading. The soul of the lazy desires, but in vain (Prov. 13:4). Egyptian monasteries observe such a custom that they do not keep anyone without labor and not so much for the need for maintenance, but for the salvation of the soul. Let not your mind wander in destructive thoughts, and like the adulterous Jerusalem, let not spoil her logs for everyone who passes by (Jer. 17:23). In the summers of my youth, and in the midst of desert solitude, I could not overcome the sinful excitement and passion of nature; although I overcame the latter by frequent fasting, my mind was fueled by thoughts. To tame him, I gave myself to be taught by a certain brother who had converted to Christianity from the Jews, so that after the wit of Quintillian, the smoothness of Cicero, the importance of Fronto and the lightness of Pliny, I could learn the alphabet and work on crackling and breathtaking words (i.e. Hebrew). How much work I put in there, how many difficulties I endured, how many times I despaired, and how many times I gave up and began to study again - I, who suffered, know about this, and those who lived with me know about it. And I thank the Lord: from the bitter seed of teaching I gather sweet fruits. I will also tell you about another circumstance seen in Egypt. There was a Greek young man in Konovia who, no matter how much abstinence or any difficult task, could extinguish the fire of lust. In the event of this misfortune, the Abba of the monastery saved him with such a trick. He ordered one strict husband to persecute the young man with slander and abuse, and, having caused an insult on his part, the first brought a complaint against him. The witnesses called speak in favor of the offender; the young man cries at such slander, seeing that no one believes the truth; one Abba skillfully objects in his defense, so as not to overwhelm his brother with excessive sadness. What's next? So a year passed; at the end of it, when the young man was asked about his previous thoughts - whether he was still suffering from torment from them - he said: fathers, life is not sweet to me: is it possible to think about fornication? If this young man were alone, who would help him win? The sages of the world 67 usually drive out old love with new love, like a wedge with a wedge. This is what the seven Persian princes did to King Artaxerxes, so that his passion for Queen Vashti could be cooled by his love for other maidens. They heal vice with vice and sin with sin, but we must overcome vices with the love of virtues. Avoid, he says, from evil and do good; seek peace and follow it (Ps. 33:15). If we do not have hatred for evil, then we cannot love good: all the more must we do good in order to evade evil. One must seek peace to avoid war; and it is not enough to seek it, we must pursue it with all our might, when this world is found and runs away from us, which surpasses all understanding and in which God dwells, according to the word of the prophet: and its place was in the world (Ps. 76:2). The search for peace by persecution is perfectly expressed here, just as the apostle says: be zealous for receiving strangers 68 (Rom. 12:13), - so that we do not invite strangers to us only with a polite and ordinary request and, as they say, with our upper lips, but hold them back with all the fervor of our hearts, as if they were taking with them part of our property and acquisitions. No science is learned without a teacher. Even dumb animals and herds of wild animals follow their leaders. Bees have queens, cranes fly after one in the order of the letter 69. There is one emperor, one provincial judge. The newly founded Rome could not have two brothers together as kings, and was defiled by fratricide. In Rebekah's womb, Esau and Jacob were at enmity (Gen. 25:22). The churches have one bishop, one archpresbyter, one archdeacon, and every church order is supported by its rulers. There is one pilot on the ship; there is only one gentleman in the house; in an army, even a very large one, they wait for one signal. With all this (so as not to bore the reader with further dissemination), my speech inclines you to teach that you should not leave yourself to your own devices, but that you should live in a monastery under the supervision of one Abba and in the company of many, in order to learn humility from one and patience from another; he will teach you silence, and this one meekness - so that you do not do what you want, eat what you are allowed, wear what you give, fulfill your lesson in your labors so that you obey whom you do not want, go to bed tired, do not sleep, although you get up without sleep. Sing Psalm in turn 70; what is required is not a pleasant voice, but a prayerful attitude of mind, according to the words of the apostle: I will sing with the spirit, I will sing with the mind (1 Cor. 14:15). And again: singing in your hearts to the Lord, for they have read that it is commanded: sing wisely. Serve the brethren, wash the feet of strangers; when enduring an insult, remain silent, fear the abbot (praepositum) of the monastery as a master, love as a father. Believe that everything that he commands is saving for you, and do not judge the opinion of your elders: - your job is to obey and do what is commanded, according to the word of Moses: pay attention and listen, O Israel (Deut. 27:9, according to LXX). With such activities, you will be free from all thoughts, and, moving from one to another and replacing one with another, you will keep in your mind only what you need to do. I saw some who, having renounced the world, that is, by dress and promise in words, and not in deeds, did not change anything from their previous life. Their property increased rather than decreased; the same servant of slaves, the same intricate table. Gold is eaten on glass and painted dishes, and, surrounded by crowds of various ministers, these monks acquire the name of hermits. And those who are poor and have little wealth consider themselves wise; in public places they appear like triumphal litters 71 to practice canine eloquence. Others, raising their shoulders up and not knowing what, muttering to themselves, with their eyes fixed on the ground, pronounce pompous phrases, so that if you add to this the precon (public herald), you would think that you have entered the prefecture. There are those who, from the dampness of their cells, immoderate fasting, from the boredom of loneliness and excessive reading, hearing only the sounds of their own voice day and night, fall into melancholy and need more the recipes of Hippocrates than my admonitions. Many cannot leave their former trading occupations and, having replaced only their merchant names, practice the same commerce, caring not about food and clothing, according to the commandment of the Apostle (1 Tim. 6:8), but chasing even greater profits than the people of the world. Previously, at least they ate, which the Greeks call α ̓ϒ ορανόμους 72, curbed the predation of sellers, and sin did not go unpunished; and now lawless transactions are carried out under the cover of religion, and the honor of the Christian name produces more than it tolerates deception. Although it is shameful, it must be said that at least we blush for our ugliness, we (monks), publicly holding out our hands (for alms), cover gold with rubble, and, contrary to general opinion, we, who lived as if in poverty, die rich, with full wallets. When you are in the monastery, you should not do this - and little by little, having become accustomed to what you initially did under compulsion and captivity, you will find pleasure in your feat, and, forgetting the past, you will constantly achieve the highest; Just don’t look at what others do bad, thinking about what you need to do good. But do not be deceived by the multitude of those who sin, and do not be embarrassed by the multitude of those who perish; Don’t think to yourself: what if everyone living in the cities perish? So they take care of their households, run churches, go to baths, do not despise fragrant ointments, and yet enjoy general respect. I have answered this before, and now I will briefly say that in this letter I am not discussing clergy, but giving instructions to a monk. Clerics are holy, and the lives of all of them are worthy of praise. Therefore, act and live in the monastery in such a way that you are worthy to be a cleric, so that you do not stain your youth with any vice, so that you approach the altar of Christ as an immaculate maiden approaches the marriage bed, and have a good testimony from outsiders, so that women know your name and do not know your face. Having reached, if you live, full age, if then either the people or the bishop of the city elects you to be a clergyman, act as befits a cleric, and among the clergy imitate the best, for in every rank and rank very good is mixed with very bad. Do not quickly jump to writing, and do not be deluded by the ease of illiteracy. Take a long time to learn what you want to teach. Do not believe your panegyrists, or, better said, do not hang your ears with pleasure in front of your scoffers: if after their pleasantries, from which you will become as if mad, you suddenly look back, then, having taken them by surprise, you will see that behind you they are either bending their stork necks, or presenting donkey ears with their hands, or sticking out their tongues like a hot dog. Do not judge anyone and do not consider yourself a saint if you reproach others. We often denounce what we ourselves do, and, lavishing eloquence against ourselves, we attack our own vices, turning out to be mute judges of ourselves among the eloquent. Grunny walked to the pulpit at a snail's pace and after several pauses barely squeezed out a few words, so that one would think that he was hiccupping and not speaking. And yet, when, having set up the table, he laid out a pile of books, then, with frowning eyebrows, flaring nostrils and wrinkled forehead, he tapped with two fingers, calling the students to attention with this sign; then he spewed pure nonsense and shouted against everyone and everyone: you would think that this is the critic Longinus - the censor of Roman eloquence, that he pronounces judgment on whomever he wants, and whoever he wants, he excludes scientists from the Senate. Being very rich, he was more famous for his dinners. And it is not surprising that this Nero at heart, Cato in appearance, who usually fed many, appeared in public places surrounded by a battalion of talkers buzzing around him. He is all double-mindedness, so that one can say that he is a single monster and a new animal, composed of opposite and different natures, as the verses say: In front is a lion, behind is a dragon, and in the middle is the chimera itself. Never look at such people, do not communicate with people of this kind and do not turn your heart into words of deceit. Heed what is written: “He sat and spoke against his brother and showed offense against his mother’s son.” And one more thing: among the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows (Ps. 57:5). And in another place: their words are more tender than oil, but they are naked swords (Ps. 54:22). And Ecclesiastes is clearer: “As a serpent bites in secret, so is he who slanderes his brother in secret” (Eccl. 10:11). But you will say: I myself do not slander, what can I do when others speak? We speak this way to justify our own sins (Ps. 140). Christ cannot be deceived by cunning. It is not I who says, but the apostle: do not be deceived: God is not mocked (Gal. 6:7). We see on the face, but he sees in the heart. Solomon said in parables: “The north wind scatters the clouds, but a sad face is the tongue of slanderers” (Prov. 25:23): for like an arrow, if it is launched at a solid body, sometimes it turns into the thrower and wounds the one who wanted to wound, and what is written is fulfilled: they turn back like a false bow (Ps. 77:57), and in another place: whoever throws a stone upward throws it on his head (Sir. 27:28); so the slanderer, when he sees the sad face of the one listening, or better yet, not listening, but stopping his ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood, immediately falls silent, his face turns pale, his lips close, his mouth goes dry. Therefore, the same wise man says: “Do not communicate with slanderers, for their destruction will soon come, and who knows the fall of both” (Prov. 24:19, 22), i.e. both the one who speaks and the one who listens to the slanderer. Truth does not like secrets and does not seek headphones. Timothy says: do not accept accusations against the elder; reprove those who sin before everyone, so that others also may have fear (1 Tim. 5:19-20). One should not be gullible in relation to an elder, who is protected by both his former life and the dignity of his title. But since we are all human and sometimes, despite our mature age, we fall into the vices of children, then if you want to correct me in sin, expose me openly, just don’t gnaw at me in secret. Let the righteous punish me: this is mercy; let him reprove me: this is the best oil, which will not hurt my head (Ps. 140:5). For whom the Lord loves, he disciplines and favors, like a father towards his son (Proverbs 3:12). And the Lord exclaims through Isaiah: My people, your leaders lead you astray and corrupt the way of your paths (Isa. 3:12). What good does it do me if you tell others about my shortcomings? What if, by leaving me in the dark, you insult another with my sins or, better yet, with your slander? What if, while zealously telling everyone about my vices, you tell everyone as if you had never told anyone else about it? This does not mean correcting me, but satisfying my sinfulness. The Lord commands that those who sin must be rebuked in private, or in front of a witness, and if they do not listen, they must be told to the church, and those who persist in sin must be considered pagans and tax collectors (Matthew 18:15–17). I speak about this persistently in order to save my young man from itching of his tongue and ears; so that he who has been reborn in Christ may be presented without spot or blemish, as a pure virgin, immaculate in mind and body, so that he may be glorified by more than one name, and with the lamp extinguished from the oil of good deeds, he will not be separated from the groom. There you have the holy and most learned bishop Proculus; with his living and close word, let him direct your path; let him not allow you, by deviating in the other direction, to leave the royal path, following which Israel promises to cross to the promised land. Oh, if only the voice of the church could be heard praying: “Lord, give us peace, for you have not given it to us” (Is. 16): oh, if we would renounce the world voluntarily, and not out of necessity, and poverty, acceptable to us ourselves, would give glory, and not the torment that it gives when imposed by force! However, given the disasters of the present time and the everywhere devastation of war, those who do not need bread are quite rich, and those who are not forced into slavery are very powerful. Saint Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse, imitating the widow of Sarepta, shepherds others with hunger himself, and with a face exhausted by fasting, suffers from other hunger and distributed all his property to the womb of Christ. There is no one richer than the one who carries the body of the Lord in a wicker basket (canistro vimineo), blood in a glass vessel (vitro), who drove out the love of money from the church, who, without ropes and reproaches, overthrew the stands of selling doves, i.e. gifts of the Holy Spirit, and tables of mammon, and scattered the money of the money changers, so that the house of God would be called a house of prayer, and not a den of thieves. Follow in your neighborhood the footsteps of him and others like him in virtue, whom the priesthood makes both humble and poor. Or, if you want perfection, leave your fatherland and your family with Abraham, and go where you do not know. If you have wealth, sell it and give it to the poor; if not, then you are freed from great burden. Follow the poor Christ, follow the poor. A difficult, great, difficult matter; but the rewards for this are great. 102. Letter to Marcellinus and Anapsychia To the truly holy gentlemen and with all greetings of love to the venerable children, Marcellinus and Anapsychia, Jerome wishes health in Christ. Finally, I received a letter from Africa of your like-mindedness, and I do not regret the immodesty with which, in the face of your silence, I often bombarded you with my letters in order to be worthy of an answer and to learn about your health not from the lips of others, but from your own words. I remember your, or even predominantly church, questions about the state of the soul: did it fall from heaven, as the philosopher Pythagoras, all the Platonists and Origen think; or it originated from the being of God, as the Stoics, the Manichaeans, and the Spanish heresy of Priscillian suppose; or souls exist in the treasury of God, were created from the beginning, as some of the church teachers foolishly believe; or each time they are created by God and sent into bodies, in accordance with what is written in the Gospel: Hitherto my Father is working and I am working (John 5:17); or occur primarily, as Tertullian, Apollinaris and most of the Westerners think, so that the soul is born from the soul, like the body from the body, and arises under the same conditions as irrational animals. I remember I wrote my opinion about this in books against Rufinus, against his book, which he dedicated to the Bishop of the Roman Church Anastasius of blessed memory, and in which, trying to laugh at the simplicity of his listeners with deceptive and cunning, or better, stupid evidence, he exposes his own faith, or better, unbelief, to ridicule. I think that the holy parent of your Oceanus has these books, for they were published a long time ago, in response to the slander of Rufinus against many of his books. Also, you, Marcellinus, have there a holy and learned man, Augustine the Bishop, who, as they say, with a living voice can instruct you and communicate his own, and even with his own lips, my opinion on this subject. Once upon a time I wanted to begin the book of Ezekeel and fulfill my repeated promise to inquisitive readers, but at the very beginning of writing the book my spirit was so disturbed by the devastation of the western provinces and especially the city of Rome that, according to a popular saying, I even forgot my own name and was silent for a long time, knowing that now was the time for tears. And this year, when I wrote three books, a sudden attack of the barbarians, about whom your Virgil said: “Barzei wandering everywhere” (Aeneid. 4), and the holy Scripture about Ishmael: he will live in the presence of all his brothers (Gen. 16:12), - like an all-encompassing stream passed through all of Egypt, Palestine, Phenicia, Syria, so that we could hardly by the grace of Christ escape their hands. And if, in the words of the famous orator, “in the midst of war the laws are silent” (Cicero pro Milone), then isn’t it even more so the pursuit of science, which, according to many books, and for peace of mind during research, and for the thoroughness of correspondence, naturally requires the safety and peace of writers. I sent two books to my daughter Fabiola, copies of which, if you want, you can take from her. Due to difficult contemporary circumstances, I could not write other books; when you read those books and see the vestibule, you will easily understand what the house itself will be like. But I believe in the mercy of the Lord, who helped me in the especially difficult beginning of the mentioned work, and I hope that His help will not leave me in the further parts of the prophet, where the wars of Gog and Magog are narrated, and in the latter, where the structure, diversity and dimensions of the most sacred and inexplicable church are described. Our holy brother Oceanus, to whom you wish to be recommended, is so high and so learned in the law of the Lord that, without my request, he can teach you and, in accordance with the general understanding, explain my opinion regarding all questions regarding the Holy Spirit. Scriptures. May Christ our Almighty God keep you, truly holy gentlemen, in health and prosperity for many years to come. 103. Letter to the maiden Principie, or funeral homily for the widow Markella Often and a lot, Virgin of Christ Principia, you asked me to commit to writing the memory of the holy wife Marcellus, and to describe for the teaching and imitation of others the treasure that we have used for a long time. I am very sorry that you persuade me to do this, when I myself strongly desire this, and you think that you need to ask me, whereas I will not yield to you in love for her, and from the recollection of such great virtues I myself will receive much more than how much benefit I will show you. That I have been silent until now and did not answer for six months, this was not due to neglect of your request, as you unfairly think, but due to excessive sadness, which oppressed my soul to such an extent that I considered it better to remain silent for now than not to say anything unworthy of its glory. Markella, yours and mine, or, more truly, ours and all the saints - Markella, this glorious adornment of the entire city of Rome, I will not extol with praises like rhetoricians, I will not talk about her famous surname, about the glory of her ancient family and genealogy, going through a series of consuls and praetorian prefects. I will not praise anything in her except what belongs to herself and which is all the more noble because she, having despised wealth and nobility (of origin), became the most noble through poverty and humiliation. Orphaned after the death of her father, she lost her husband seven months after marriage. When Cereal (whose name is famous among the consuls), due to her youth, the antiquity of her family, the extreme beauty of her body (which is usually especially liked by men), as well as her excellent character, intensely pursued her, when he, already an old man, promised her his wealth, wanting, as it were, to transfer his estate to her not as a wife, but as a daughter, and when her mother Albina strongly desired such glorious support for her widow's house; then she answered: if I wanted to get married and did not want to doom myself to eternal shame, then I, of course, would be looking for a husband, and not an inheritance. And when Cereal objected that old people can live long and young men can die soon, she excellently dodged: although a young man can die soon (she said), an old man cannot live long. Reflected by such an answer, he gave a lesson to others not to rely on her hand. In the Gospel of Luke we read: there was also Anna the prophetess, daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher, who had reached a very old age, having lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity, a widow of eighty-four years old, who did not leave the church, serving God day and night with fasting and prayer (Luke 2:36-37). And it is not surprising that she was honored to see the Savior whom she hoped for in such a feat. Let us compare seven years with seven months: one longs for Christ, the other carries Him; one confesses the one who was born, the other believes in the one who was crucified; one does not deny the baby, the other glorifies the reigning husband. I make no distinction between holy women (which some people usually foolishly make between holy men and bishops of churches); but my speech tends to the point that for them, who labored equally, there should be the same reward. In a depraved society and a city to which people from all over the world sometimes flocked, behind which there was a palm tree of vices, where the honest was dishonored, the pure and bright were defamed - in such a city it is difficult not to incur some kind of bad rumor. Therefore, the prophet desires this integrity, or rather dreams of it, as something very difficult, almost impossible, when he says: blessed are those who are blameless in the way, 73 walking in the law of the Lord (Ps. 119:1). But who ever heard anything bad about this woman and could believe it? Who has ever believed without thereby condemning himself more to wickedness and depravity? She was the first to put paganism to shame when she showed everyone what Christian widowhood was, which she kept in her conscience and in her clothes. Widows (pagans) usually paint their faces with rouge and white, shine in silk dresses, shine with precious stones, wear gold on their necks, and having pierced their ears, hang expensive pearls from the Red Sea on them, flaunt in tortoiseshell headdresses, they are so sad about their husbands that they rejoice at the end of their dominion over them and look for others, not like those who to serve, according to the commandment of God, and such over whom to rule. That is why they choose the poor (as husbands), so that they appear to be husbands only by name, patiently allow partners in marriage, and can be immediately driven away as soon as they murmur. Our widow wore such clothes as the cold required and which did not expose her limbs; She did not even allow gold on her signet ring, hiding it more in the wombs of the poor than in their wallets. She never went anywhere without her mother; Of the clergy and monks (to whom sometimes necessity forced one to resort to large-scale farming), I did not see anyone without witnesses. She was always accompanied by virgins and widows, equally serious women: for she knew that by the easy behavior of the maids they often judge the behavior of the masters and laugh at such a retinue, concluding that the mistress herself is like that. Her love for the Holy Scriptures was incredible, and she always sang: in my heart I have hidden Your word, so as not to sin before You (Ps. 119:11), and what was said about a perfect man: but his will is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night (Ps. 1:2). She understood the teaching in the law not in explaining what was written, as the Jewish Pharisees think, but in fulfilling it, according to the word of the apostle: whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:32), and according to the word of the prophet: I understood from your commandments (Ps. 119:104), so as to consider myself worthy the understanding of the scriptures only by fulfilling the commandments, about which we read elsewhere: what Jesus did and taught from the beginning (Acts 1:1). For even a glorious teaching is ashamed of the one who violates it in his conscience, and preaches poverty in vain and receives alms from the tongue of one who is puffed up with the riches of Croesus, and verbally fights against silken garments, clad in a despicable mantle. She fasted moderately, abstained from meat, hated wine more than she ate stomach for the sake of frequent illnesses (1 Tim. 5:23). She rarely appeared in public and especially avoided the houses of noble matrons, so as not to be forced to see what she despised. In the basilicas of the apostles and martyrs, she was present at solitary prayers, in which there was no gathering of people. She obeyed her mother in such a way that she sometimes did what she did not want. For when the mother, despising her wealth and not the name of her sons and grandsons, wanted to transfer everything to her brother’s children, although she preferred the poor, she could not contradict her mother: she gave up the necklaces and all the household rubbish, all of which was perishing, to the rich, and preferred to lose money than to sadden the mother’s soul. At that time in Rome, not one of the noble women knew the vow of monasticism and did not dare, due to the novelty of this matter, to take an inglorious, as they thought, and despised name among people. From the Alexandrian priests, Pope Athanasius and then from Peter, who, avoiding the persecution of the Arian heretics, resorted to Rome as the safest haven of their unanimity, she learned about the life of Blessed Anthony, who was then still alive, about the rules of the Thebaid and Pachomius monasteries, about the rules of virgins and widows - she learned and was not ashamed to accept what which, as she was convinced, was pleasing to Christ. A few years later, her example was followed by Sophronia and others, to whom this verse from Ennius can very rightly be applied: “if not for the forest of Peleus” 74. The Venerable Paula enjoyed her love; on her bed the beauty of virginity, Eustochia, was brought up, so that it would be easy to judge what a teacher is like when the students are like that. The insidious reader may laugh at my lavish praise of women; but if he remembers the holy women, the companions of the Lord the Savior, who served Him from their wealth, the three Marys standing before the cross, and Mary in the proper sense - Magdalene, who, due to the firmness and ardor of her faith, received the name surrounded by towers 75 and was the first, before the apostles, to see the risen Christ - then he will rather accuse himself of insolence than me of immorality. I judge virtues not by gender, but by spirit, and for the contempt of nobility and wealth I give great glory. That is why Jesus especially loved John, who, due to the nobility of his family, was known to the high priest, 76 and was not afraid of the enslavement of the Jews, so that he brought Peter into the porch and one of the apostles stood at the cross, received the mother of the Savior in himself, and as an inheritance from the virgin Lord the virgin son received a virgin mother. In this way she (Markella) lived for many years, so that she saw before her as an old woman the one she remembered as a girl (Eustochia) - she lived, approving of Plato’s thought that philosophy is thinking about death. Therefore, our apostle said: I die every day for your salvation (1 Cor. 15:31), and the Lord (according to the ancient lists): “Whoever does not wear his cross daily and follow Me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), and much earlier through the prophet the Holy Spirit: for You they kill us every day, they count us as sheep doomed to the slaughter ( Rom. 8:36), as well as, many centuries later, this saying: remember your end, and you will never sin (Sir. 7:39), as well as the instruction of the most eloquent satirist: “Live with death in mind: time flies; what I say is already subsequent” 77. So (as I began to say) she spent her days and lived with the constant thought of death; She dressed in such a way that she remembered the coffin, sacrificing herself as a reasonable, living sacrifice, pleasing to God. Finally, when the need of the church 78 brought me to Rome together with the holy bishops Paulinus and Epiphanius (of whom one ruled the Antiochian church in Syria, and the other the Salamis church in Cyprus), and I timidly lowered my eyes before noble women, she acted in such a way, according to the word of the apostle, in time and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2), that with her zeal she overcame my timidity. Since I was then somewhat famous for my knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, it never happened that she did not ask something about the Holy Scriptures; and was not immediately satisfied with the answers, but raised objections - and this was not for verbal debate, but so that by objecting she could learn to resolve those questions that, she thought, could be opposed to the solution. How many virtues I found in her, how much intelligence, how much holiness, how much purity - I am afraid to say, so as not to inspire suspicion of gullibility and not cause you greater grief from remembering what happiness you lost. I will only say that everything that I collected through long labor and from long-term reflection turned into nature, she tasted all of it, studied everything, assimilated everything, so that after my departure, if there was a dispute about any evidence from the Scriptures, then they turned to her court. And since she was very prudent and knew what philosophers call τό πρέπον, i.e. decorum in her actions, then she answered questions in such a way that she spoke her own words as if not from herself, but from me or someone else, so that even in what she taught herself, she would recognize herself only as a student. For she knew the words of the apostle: I do not allow a woman to teach (1 Tim. 2:12), so as not to give rise to offense to men, and sometimes to priests, who turned to her with questions on dark and dubious subjects. In our place, as I heard, you clung to her company and never left her, as they say, even an inch. Living in the same house and in the same room with her, as everyone in the city knew very well, you found a mother, and she found a daughter. The suburban estate has become a monastery for you, and the village you have chosen has become a desert. This is how you lived for a long time, and from the lives of many women who began to imitate you, I rejoiced that Rome turned into Jerusalem. Many monasteries of virgins arose, there were countless numbers of monks, so that, due to the multitude of those who dedicated themselves to God, what was previously considered dishonorable later became honorable. Meanwhile, we eased our separation by mutual relations, and what we could not do physically, we did spiritually: we often exchanged letters, competed in services, warned each other with greetings - and the separation, combined with the letters inseparable from it, did little harm. In the midst of this silence and service to the Lord, the heretical storm that arose in these parts disturbed everything and became enraged to such fury that it spared neither itself nor any of the pious. And not content with disturbing everything here, she brought a ship full of blasphemy into the Roman harbour. The pot soon found its cover, and unclean feet muddied the purest stream of the Roman faith. It is not surprising that in Rome, for the amusement of spectators on the streets and in the marketplace, an inventive clown beat fools on the backside with a rope, and when they bit, he hit them in the teeth 79 - it is not surprising when the pernicious and shameful teaching found someone to seduce in Rome. The books of περί α ̓ ρχω ͂ ν were then absurdly interpreted, and then there was a student in truth, in accordance with his name ο ͛ λρ ̓ ιος 80 , if he had not come across such a teacher. It was then that our contradiction 81 appeared and the school of the Pharisees was indignant. Then Saint Markella, who for a long time restrained herself so as not to appear to be acting out of partiality, seeing that the faith approved by the apostolic lips is being violated by many, so that false teaching attracts even priests and some monks and especially lay people into unanimity, and laughs at the simplicity of the bishop 82, who judged others according to his own understanding of the truth, seeing this, she publicly opposed this false teaching, wishing better please God rather than people. In the Gospel, the Savior approves of the unrighteous steward because he acted, although unjustly towards the master, but favorably towards himself (Luke 16:10). Heretics, seeing that very large fires flare up from a small spark, and that the fire they once started has reached the heights, and it is impossible to hide what has seduced many, they ask and receive church messages, so that, having communion with the church, they will seem to have apostatized from heresy. After some time, the famous man Anastasius ascended to the bishopric, whom Rome was not honored to have for a long time, so that the head of the world would not be truncated under such a bishop 83 . Even for this reason, he was raptured and offered up, so that he would not try with his prayers to reject the sentence once pronounced by the words of the Lord to Jeremiah: do not pray for this people for their good. If they fast, I will not hear their cry; and if they offer burnt offerings and gifts, I will not accept them; but with sword and famine and pestilence I will destroy them (Jer. 14:11–12). But you say: what is there to praise Marcellus? She marked the beginning of the condemnation of heretics: she presented witnesses who, having first been instructed by them 84, were subsequently infected with heretical teaching; she proved many seduced; she presented the books περί α ̓ ρχω ͂ ν, which turned out to be corrected by the hand of the scorpion. The heretics, who were called to defense by repeated messages, did not dare to appear: the strength of conscience was so great that they preferred to be condemned in absentia than to be exposed in person. The beginning of this so glorious victory was laid by Marcella, and you, who stood at the head of this matter and were the cause of this good, know that I am speaking the truth; You know that out of many things I say only about a little, so as not to bore the reader with unpleasant dissemination and so that it does not seem to ill-intentioned people that, under the pretext of praising others, I am feeding my own belly. I'll move on to what's next. The storm, moving from the countries of the West to the East, threatened many with great disasters. Then what was said was fulfilled: When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8). When the love of many grew cold, the few who loved the truth of the faith joined our side, although a blow was publicly directed against the head of these few and although all means were used against them, so that Barnabas 85 was drawn into this temptation, or - better - obvious, committed not by violence, but by intention, parricide. And then the Lord breathed - and the whole storm dissipated and the prophetic prophecy was fulfilled: if you take away their spirit, they die and return to their dust (Ps. 103:29), on that day [all] his thoughts disappear (Ps. 146:4), and another gospel: fool! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? (Luke 12:20). During these events in Jerusalem, terrible news comes from the west that Rome is under siege, that the salvation of citizens is bought with gold, that they are besieged again, having been robbed, in order to lose their lives for the sake of their property 86. The tongue goes numb and sobs interrupt the words of the dictator. They take the city that took the whole world; Moreover, before he perishes by the sword, he perishes from hunger, and only a few remain to be taken prisoner. In excruciating hunger they rush to vile food, tear each other’s limbs, the mother does not spare the infant, and again takes into the womb the one recently removed from there. “Moab was captured by night, its wall fell by night” (Ps. 51:1). God! the pagans came into Your inheritance, desecrated Your holy temple, turned Jerusalem into ruins; They gave the corpses of Your servants to be eaten by the birds of the air, the bodies of Your saints to the beasts of the earth; They shed their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them (Ps. 78:1-3). Who can express in words the devastation and horrors of that night, Who can find enough tears for grief? The ancient city, which reigned for many years, fell There are many soulless bodies scattered along the streets and in houses, And everywhere there is a terrible image of death. Amid this destruction, the bloodthirsty winner invades Markella’s house. “May I be allowed to tell what I heard” (Ex Virgil, Aeneid. C. VI), or better, to tell what was seen by the holy men who were there, who say that you were inseparable from her even during the misfortune. Fearlessly, they say, she met those who entered; They demanded money from her, and although her poor clothes eliminated the suspicion of buried treasure, they did not believe her voluntary poverty. Beaten with sticks and whips, she is said to have felt no pain; but, lying at the feet of her enemies, she achieved with her tears so that you would not be separated from her, so that you, a young girl, would not suffer what her old age could not fear. Christ softened the hard-hearted, and among the bloody weapons there was a place for compassion. When the barbarians took both her and you to the basilica of the Apostle Paul to show you either the place of salvation or the tomb, they say she came to such joy that she thanked God that He had kept you unharmed for her, that the taking of the city found and did not make her poor, that she did not have daily bread, that, being satisfied with Christ, she did not feel hunger, that she said in word and deed: naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked and I'll be back. The Lord gave, the Lord also took away; [as the Lord pleased, so it was done;] blessed be the name of the Lord! ( Job 1:21 ). A few days later, with a healthy, painless, blooming body, she rested in the Lord, leaving you, her poor thing, as heir, or better yet, leaving the poor as heirs through you. Closing her eyes in your hands, giving up the ghost at your kisses, - amid your sobs she smiled in the consciousness of a virtuous life and the anticipation of future rewards. This is what I dictated for you, venerable Marcella, and for you, daughter of Principius, in one short sitting, wanting to please both God and the readers not with the beauty of the word, but with the good disposition of the soul devoted to you. About raising little Pakatula It is not an easy task to write to a girl who does not understand what is being said to her, whose spiritual qualities you do not know and whose inclinations you incorrectly assume, so that, according to the conclusion of the famous speaker, you can praise her promising inclinations rather than actual qualities. How can she preach abstinence when she asks for pies; when in her mother's arms she babbles incessantly; when is honey gingerbread more pleasant to her than words? Will she who is occupied with more childish tales listen to the mysteries of the apostle? Will the one who is saddened by the sad face of the nanny feel the riddles of the prophets? Will she understand the greatness of the Gospel, from the lightning of which every mortal mind is darkened? How can one exhort one who with a gentle hand beats a laughing mother to obey her parents? So let our Pacatula receive this letter so that she can read it someday. In the meantime, as soon as she learns the rudiments of the alphabet, let her add syllables, learn names and connect words, and let her be offered cakes, sweets and everything that tastes good as a reward, so that she can read more with her thin voice. She will be diligent in this in order to get some flowers, or trinkets, or her favorite dolls. By the way, let him learn to spin with gentle fingers, let him often tear the threads so as not to break them later; after work, let him have fun with games, hang on his mother’s neck, kiss his family while running; let her sing psalms for reward, let her love to learn what she must learn, so that it is not a necessity, but entertainment, a matter not of need, but of desire. Some have the habit, dooming a girl to eternal virginity, to put mourning dresses on her, cover her with a dark veil, and not allow her to wear gold on her head or neck - of course, with the good intention that she would not learn at a young age what she would be forbidden to do later. But to others it seems different. For, they say, if she herself does not have this, will she not see others who have it? The female gender loves jewelry. And we know many, even especially chaste ones, who happily dress up - not for any of the men, but for themselves. It would be better to be satiated with what she has, and not watch others boast about what she does not have. And it is better if, having been satisfied, he begins to neglect it, than if he does not have it, he strives to have it. This is what the Lord did with the people of Israel, sending many quails to those who wanted Egyptian meat, to the point of nausea and vomiting; In the same way, many who were formerly people of the world more easily leave the experienced pleasures of the flesh than those who have not known lust from childhood. For the former turn away from the tried and tested, the latter desire the unknown; Some in repentance avoid the fetters of pleasure from which they have freed themselves, others, caressing carnal lusts with pleasant tickling of the body, thinking to taste the honey in these pleasures, find deadly poison in them. Honey flows from the mouth of another man's wife (Prov. 5:3), honey that sweetens the lips of those who eat for a time, but afterward seems bitterer than gall. Therefore, in sacrifices they do not bring honey to the Lord, and instead of wax, which makes up the container for honey, oil is burned in the church of God (Lev. 2), which is squeezed out of bitter olives. And the Passover is eaten with bitter herbs (Ex. 12) in unleavened bread of purity and truth (1 Cor. 5:8), which he who has will stand against persecution in this world. Therefore, the prophet, in a mysterious sense, sings: I sat alone, for You filled me with indignation (Jer. 15:17). So what? Is it necessary to indulge in the pleasures of life in youth, so that later the courageous ones despise pleasures? No, they say, because everyone remains in the rank in which he is called (1 Cor. 7:20). Who is circumcised, i.e. called to virginity, let him not excite his flesh, i.e. does not seek the skin of marriage, in which Adam, expelled from the paradise of virginity, clothed himself. Is anyone called uncircumcised, i.e. having a wife and clothed in the leather vestments of marriage, the path does not seek virginity and the exposure of eternal chastity, which he once abandoned, but let him use his vessel in holiness and honor (1 Thess. 4:4) and drink from his springs, and not seek the wasteful reservoirs of harlots, which cannot contain the purest waters of chastity (Prov. 5). Therefore, Paul, speaking in the same chapter about virginity and marriage, calls those who are in marriage slaves of the flesh, and those who serve the Lord with all their freedom without the yoke of marriage, free. What I say, I do not say in general, but in particular, I do not say about everyone, but only about some. For my speech refers to both sexes, and not to one weak vessel. You are a virgin: what attracts you in a union with your wife? Why do you entrust a weak and fragile boat to the great waves and carelessly go into the danger of an unknown voyage? You don’t know what you want, and yet you unite with her (your wife) as if you had long wanted it, or (it’s funny to say) you would want it later. But is that sex more capable of service? So choose an ugly old woman, choose a woman of known chastity in the Lord: why does a young, beautiful, passionate woman seduce you? You wash in baths, you have white skin, rosy cheeks, you eat meat, you drown in wealth, you dress in precious clothes - and do you really think that you can sleep peacefully next to a deadly snake? But you don't live in the same room with her? Only at night; but then you spend whole days talking with her. Why do you sit with her alone, and not with witnesses, so that even if you do not sin, then to others you seem to be sinning and set an example for those unfortunate ones who sin in imitation of your authority? And you, maiden or widow, why are you delayed by a man’s lengthy conversation? Why aren't you afraid to be alone with him? At least let the need of your stomach or bladder prompt you to go out and leave on this occasion the one with whom you behaved much more freely than with your brother, and much less modestly than with your husband. But you ask him about something from St. Scriptures? Ask publicly; let the maids hear, let your friends hear. Everything that is made manifest is light (Eph. 5:13). Good conversation does not seek mystery; she even finds pleasure when many people listen to her and approve of her. And that glorious teacher leaves men, neglects his brothers, and labors in the secret instruction of one woman! I somewhat deviated from the subject of my discussion, regarding foreign subjects, and, while instructing and raising little Pakatula, I accidentally started a war with many of my haters. I return to the subject. Let the female sex unite with its own sex: let it not know, even be afraid to play with boys. Let her not know any immodest word, and if, among the idle talk of the servants, she accidentally hears something obscene, let her not understand. Let the mother's gesture be for her instead of words and admonitions and instead of orders. Let him love her like a parent, obey her like a mistress, and fear her like a mentor. When a young girl with a lost tooth reaches her seventh year, and she begins to blush, she will know what to remain silent about, doubt, what to talk about: then let her teach the Psalter as a memory and until adulthood - the books of Solomon; Let him make the Gospels, apostles and prophets the treasure of his heart. Let him not walk too freely in public places and let him not always strive to attend large gatherings in churches. Let all her pleasures be in her room. Let her never see curled young people; let the sweet speeches, which hurt the soul through the ear, be removed from her, and the amusements of girls, which are the more difficult to remove, the more freely they behave and who secretly teach what they themselves have learned, and with rude speeches insult the imprisoned Danae. Let her companion be a teacher and a guardian educator, not devoted to much wine, but to the apostle, not lazy and talkative, but sober, strict, hardworking and saying only what disposes a girl’s soul to virtues. For just as water on a level surface follows the finger that leads it in front, so soft, tender age conveniently leans on both sides, and is drawn to where you lead it. Voluptuous, dressed-up young men usually seek acquaintance through wet nurses or housemates with affection, friendliness, gifts, and, modestly entering the house, they light fires from a spark, little by little they reach the point of shamelessness, and in no way can they be curbed, since this rhyme is written about them: “it is difficult to be angry with what you have allowed to become a habit.” It’s a shame to say, but it needs to be said: noble women, neglecting even more noble suitors, enter into relationships with people of the lowest rank and slaves, and under the pretext of piety, under the guise of chastity, sometimes leave their husbands; Helens follow the Alexanders, and are not afraid of the Menelaevs. Everyone sees this, scolds and does not punish, because the multitude of sinners offer an excuse for sin. Oh shame! The world is collapsing, but our sins are not collapsing. The illustrious city and head of the Roman Empire was destroyed by one fire. There is not a single country in which there were no Roman exiles. Once sacred churches have been turned to dust and ashes, and we indulge in greed. We live as if we were going to die the next day, and we build as if we would live in this world forever. The walls shine with gold, the ceilings with gold, the capitals of the columns with gold, and the naked and hungry Christ in the form of a beggar dies before our doors. We read that the high priest Aaron came out to meet the fierce flame and, having lit the censer, restrained the wrath of God (Num. 16). The great priest stood between death and life, and the fire did not dare to go further than his feet. The Lord says to Moses: Leave Me alone, and I will destroy them (Ex. 32:10). When he says: leave me, he shows that He may be softened and may not fulfill the threat, because the prayers of the servant resist the power of God. What do you think, who in the sunflower could now resist the wrath of God - who could go out to meet the flame and say with the apostle: I myself would like to be excommunicated from Christ for my brothers (Rom. 9:3)? With the shepherds, the flocks perish, because as the people are, so is the priest. Moses, in a fit of compassion, said: forgive them their sin, and if not, then blot me out of Your book (Ex. 32:32). He wants to perish with those who are perishing and is not content with his own salvation, since in a multitude of people is the greatness of a king (Prov. 14:28). It was at such times that our Pacatula was born. Among such and such amusements she spends her childhood, having to know tears before laughter, having to hear a cry before joy, not knowing the entrance, but already knowing the exit. Let her think that the world has always been like this. Let him not know the past, avoid the present, wait for the future. Your love, brother Gaudentius, prompted me to dictate this in an incoherent speech, and after the murder of friends and constant lamentation, forced me, an old man, to write to the child for her distant future. And I considered it better to give the one asking a little than not to give anything: because in the first case a good disposition is revealed, oppressed by sadness, in the latter - an insult to friendship. You, the noblest of Christians and the most Christian of nobles, Dardanus, ask: is the promised land that the Jews occupied when they returned from Egypt, since it was already in the possession of their ancestors and therefore is not a promised land, but returned - for you use these words at the end of your letter. Asking about this, it seems that you are thinking the same thing that many of our people approve, namely, that we need to look for another promised land, about which David says in the psalm: I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 26:13), and the Lord in the Gospel: blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Without a doubt, when David sang this in spirit, he was in the promised land, and not only lived within the borders of Judea, but was also the ruler of many neighboring nations, occupying the space from the stream of Egypt, located in Rhinocorur, to the Euphrates River, as he says in another place: I put my boot on Idumya: the foreign women submitted to me (Ps. 59:10). How did he hope to obtain what he already owned by right of conquest? Perhaps, in order to leave no doubt to the Jewish readers - what kind of land it was that he wanted to see - he explains this in the same speech, saying: I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So the land of Judea, which was in his possession, is not the land of the living, i.e. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, about whom the Lord, when asked about the resurrection, says: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). About the land and the land of the dead, Ezekiel says: the soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:4), and also: neither the dead will praise the Lord, but we [the living] (Ps. 113:25-26), who at the resurrection will meet the Lord Savior, according to the apostle: this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not warn the dead (1 Thess. 4:15), about which Jeremiah says: those who depart from Me will be written in the dust (Jer. 17:13). What David promises with the words: I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord clearly leads us to spiritual contemplation. For what other blessings did the king seek or need, who was so rich that his son Solomon (richer than there was no one in the world) would be content with part of the wealth he left? But in the land of the living, he sought those blessings that the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and that have not come to the heart of man - the blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). And what is said in the Gospel: blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), in the literal sense, seems to contain an internal contradiction. For the inheritance of the land is not characteristic of the meek and humble, who often, due to their meekness, lose what their parents left behind, but of brave and courageous men, most capable of war. Finally, in the forty-fourth psalm, which refers under the name of Solomon to the mystery of Christ and His church, it is written: gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your beauty, and in this Your adornment hasten, sit on a chariot for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness, and Your right hand will show You wondrous deeds (Ps. 45:4-5). This is the one who in another psalm says: remember, Lord, David and all his meekness (Ps. 131:1), and also: the Lord exalts the humble (Ps. 146:6), and more clearly in the Gospel: learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29), - the one in the prototype of which Moses is depicted as the meekest of all people who were on earth (Numbers 12:3). The land of the living, as I said, is the land in which the good things of the Lord are prepared for holy and meek men - that which, before the coming of the Lord Savior in the flesh, neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor the prophets, nor other righteous men could inherit. And Abraham, although in various places appears with Lazarus in hell (Luke 16), and Jacob, a righteous man, says: I will go down to my son in the grave with sorrow (Gen. 37:35). The key to paradise is the blood of Christ, who speaks to the thief: today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). This is, as I said, the land of the living, the land of wealth and the blessings of God, which the first Adam lost, and the second Adam found, or better, returned what was lost first, according to the word of the Apostle: death reigned from Adam to Moses (under whose face the law is understood) and over those who did not sin, like the crime of Adam, who is the image of the future (Rom. 5:14). If we want to know more definitely what kind of land this is, let us read from Malachi: and all nations will call you blessed, because you will be a desirable land, says the Lord of hosts (Mal. 3:12), land, which in Greek is more expressively called ϧ ελητη, which either the saints desire, or which pleases the Lord. And Isaiah corresponds to these words, saying: and a man will hide his words, and will appear in the land of Zion like a glorious river flowing into a thirsty land (Isaiah 32:2). What kind of land is this Zion, in which the glorious river will appear? Obviously - the one about which David sings in another psalm: glorious things are proclaimed about you, city of God, and also: the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the villages of Jacob (Ps. 87:2-3). Does God really love those gates that we see turned to dust and ashes? It is impossible to convince wise people, let alone foolish ones, of this. It also comes to my mind that what is written in the sixty-fourth psalm is consistent with this understanding: You visit the earth and quench its thirst, enrich it abundantly: the stream of God is full of water; You prepare the bread, for this is how you made it; You water its furrows, you level its boulders, you soften it with drops of rain, you bless its growth (Ps. 64:10-11). For this land is constantly visited by God, and is trusted, and is filled with all riches. From it flows the river of God, about which it is written: river streams make glad the city of God (Ps. 45:5), about which Ezekiel also speaks in a mysterious speech when describing the church (Ezek. 47); on the banks of which grow trees, which on both sides (of the river) produce new fruits every month in great abundance. A wise man wrote about this land in Proverbs: whoever cultivates his land will be satisfied with bread (Prov. 12:11). If anyone thinks that this should be understood in relation to this land, which we see, which is owned for the most part by sinners, and about which it is written: “Cursed is the earth for your sake” (Gen. 3:17), then let him answer how the thought can be justified: whoever cultivates his land will be satisfied with bread. For how many people cultivate the earth and force it to bear fruit, and yet, due to many circumstances preventing this, are oppressed by want and hunger? But we must pay attention to what Scripture says in the words: cultivate your land. The land is the property of man and he can never be cast off from it, which is why it is written: with his wealth a man redeems his life (Prov. 13:8). This, however, cannot be taken literally. For how many get rid of other people's money or the money of friends? The tillers and plowmen of this land are the apostles, to whom it is said: you are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), and in another place: through your patience save your souls (Luke 21:19), of which one, a chosen vessel, very boldly says: we are fellow workers with God, and you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9), and much more, about which I will not expand, so that it does not seem that I I tire the mind and do not trust the reader’s memory. With an attentive mind and under the guidance of the authority of the Scriptures, we must also consider that the saints of that land, which the Jews call the Promised Land, are not permanent residents of it, but strangers and strangers. On behalf of the righteous man we read: I am a stranger with You and a stranger, like all my fathers (Ps. 39:13). Having lived for a long time in the darkness of this land, he sighs with a cry and says: “Woe is me, that I dwell at Mosoch, I dwell at the tents of Kedar.” My soul lived long with those who hated the world (Ps. 119:5-6). And if we examine all the places where the inhabitants of the earth are mentioned - at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of Scripture - then it will be clearly possible to prove the rule of Scripture that sinners are always called inhabitants of the earth, as, for example, in the Apocalypse of John: woe to those who live on the earth (Rev. 8:13). About Abraham, who was the first to receive the promise, according to the word of the Lord: to you and to your descendants I will give this land (Gen. 12:7), in the sermon of the first martyr Stephen in Christ it is said that he did not receive this land not by the sole of his foot. For thus it is written: Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after the death of his father, God moved him to this land in which you now live. And he did not give him an inheritance in it, not even one foot, but promised to give it as an inheritance to him and to his descendants after him (Acts 7:4–5). And so that the reader’s secret thought does not lead him to such an understanding that what was not given to the ancestor was returned to the descendants, the chosen vessel says in the epistle to the Jews: by faith Abraham obeyed the call to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and he went, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as if it were a stranger, and lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise; for he looked for a city that has foundations, whose maker and builder is God (Heb. 11:8–10). And then, having spoken about Abel, Enoch, Noah and Sarah, he added: all these died in faith, not receiving the promises, but only saw them from afar, and rejoiced, and said about themselves that they were strangers and strangers on earth; for those who say so show that they are looking for the fatherland. And if they had in their thoughts the fatherland from which they came, they would have time to return; but they strived for the best, that is, for the heavenly (ibid., vv. 13-16), and having then mentioned many saints, he finally said: and all these, who were testified in faith, did not receive what was promised, because God provided something better for us, so that they would not achieve perfection without us (ibid., vv. 39-40). But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem and ten thousand angels, to the triumphant assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven (Heb. 12:22–23). I know that the unbelief of the Jews does not accept these testimonies, which are undoubtedly established by the authority of the Old Testament. What we need to say is that this epistle, which is written to the Jews, is accepted not only by the churches of the East, but also by all the Greek church writers after them, as the epistle of the Apostle Paul, although many think that they are either Barnabas or Clement - and that there is no need whose it is, when it is the work of a man belonging to the church (ecclesiastici viri) and when it is daily glorified by the reading of the churches. And if the custom of the Latins does not accept it among the canonical writings, just as the Greek churches, by the same freedom, do not accept the Apocalypse of John: then we nevertheless accept both books, following not at all the customs of the present time, but the authority of ancient writers, who for the most part use the testimony of both books - not as they sometimes do regarding the apocrypha (since they occasionally use passages from pagan writings), but as books canonical and ecclesiastical. Those who think that this particular land (which through the passion and resurrection of Christ has now become the promised land for us) was owned by the Jewish people upon their return from Egypt, let them tell me how much land they owned. Without a doubt - from Dan to Beersheba, which is only one hundred and sixty miles in length. For Scripture testifies that both David and Solomon, the most powerful of the kings, did not own much space (2 Sam. 17:11), except for the possession of the tribes they conquered, who lived in alliance with them. I say this so as not to mention the five Palestinian cities: Gaza, Ascalon, Goethe, Ekron and Azoth, as well as the Edomites, who lived to the south, barely seventy-five miles from Jerusalem, and the Arabs and Hagarenes, who are now called Saracens, who lived in the neighborhood of the city of Jerusalem. It is a shame to talk about the breadth of the Promised Land, lest it seem that I am giving the pagans a reason for blasphemy. From Jopia to our little village of Bethlehem is forty-five miles; and behind him comes a huge desert inhabited by wild barbarians, of whom it is said: he will live in the presence of all his brothers (Gen. 16:12) and whom the most eloquent poet mentions in the words: “widely wandering Bartsei” - from the city of Barka lying in the desert - which Africans now call the distorted word Baritsians. According to the characteristics of the localities, they are called by different names, and from Mauritania through Africa and Egypt, Palestine and Phenicia, Kelesyria and Osroene, Mesopotamia and Persia, they extend to India. This, O Jew, is the length and breadth of your lands; you boast about them; These are the things you boast about before the ignorant in different provinces. “You boast before the crowd, but I know you through and through.” You will object, perhaps, that the promised land is the one spoken of in the book of Numbers (chapter 34) - the country that extends from the south from the Salt Sea through Sin and Cadiz-Barnea to the stream of Egypt, which flows near Rhinocorura 87 into the great sea; - which borders on the west with this sea, washing Palestine, Phenicia, Coelesyria and Cilicia; from the north it extends from Mount Taurus and Zephron to Hamath, which is now called Syria Epiphanus; and east of Antioch and Lake Henerif, which is now called Tiberias, to the Jordan, which flows into the Salt Sea, now called the Dead Sea; Beyond the Jordan are the possessions of two and a half tribes: Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. And I confess that this was promised to you, but not given: - promised, if you had kept the commandments of God and walked in His ways, if instead of Almighty God you had not worshiped Beelphegor and Baal, Beelzebub and Chemosh; and since you preferred them to God, you lost everything that was promised to you. And in the Gospel I am promised the kingdom of heaven, which the Old Testament does not mention at all. But if I do not fulfill what is commanded, then the blame will not be on the one who promised, but on me, who did not deserve to receive what was promised. For when free activity is assumed in the choice, then you, who do not want to work, hope in vain to receive what is promised. Read the book of Jesus and Judges and you will find out by what narrow limits you are limited in your possessions. Why mention the foreigners who lived in different cities, and whom the Jewish people could not drive out of their cities and settlements - when your very capital, first Jebus, then Salem, then Jerusalem and finally Elijah, could not drive out the Jebusites, and lived with them as a temptation and example for its neighbors; so that your temple was built where the threshing floor of Orna the Jebusite was, and the temple itself, according to the multitude of the uncircumcised living with you, was built by the pagans - seventy thousand stone-cutters and eighty thousand bearers 88, i.e. one hundred and fifty thousand, not counting the work supervisors. I say this not to disparage the land of Judea, as the heretical slanderer thinks, and not to deny the truth of history, which forms the basis of spiritual understanding, but to undermine the arrogance of the Jews, who prefer the narrow confines of the synagogue to the breadth of the church. For if they follow only the letter that kills, and not the spirit that gives life, then let them show me the promised land, boiling with milk and honey. And if they think that this is said tropologically, instead of abundance in everything, then we will prefer the land of confession and the land of the living to the land of thorns, according to the word of the Lord to Moses about the rejection of Israel and about the calling of the pagans: leave Me, and I will destroy them, and I will make a numerous nation from you (Ex. 32:10); and according to the word of the same Father to the Son: Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Your inheritance and the ends of the earth for Your possession (Ps. 2:8); and more clearly through Isaiah: not much for you 89, You will be My servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the remnants of Israel, but I will make You a light of the nations, so that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth (Isa. 49:6). This clearly shows that everything that happened to those people happened transformatively, in the shadow and image, and was written for us, who have reached the last centuries. O Jew, you have committed many crimes; You have done all the work for the peoples around you. For what? Of course, for idolatry. And during your frequent suffering under the yoke of slavery, the Lord was merciful to you and sent judges and deliverers who freed you from the slavery of the Moabites and Ammonites, the Philistines and other nations. Subsequently, under the rule of the kings, you angered God, and your entire region was devastated by the defeat of the Babylonian people. The desolation of the church continued for seventy years. You were returned from captivity by Cyrus the king of Persia. Ezra and Nehemiah are very clear about this. Under Darius, king of Persia and Media, the church was built by Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jozedek the high priest. I will not list what you suffered from the Medes, Egyptians and Macedonians, I will not talk about Antiochus Epiphanes, the most cruel of all tyrants, I will not remember Pompey, Gabinius, Scaurus, Varus, Cassius and Sosius, who attacked your cities and especially Jerusalem. Finally, under Vespasian and Titus, the city was taken and the church was destroyed. Then, for fifty years, before Emperor Hadrian, only the remains of the city existed, and now, almost four hundred years after the destruction of the church, only the ruins of the city and the church remain. What is this such a great crime? For you do not worship idols; even under the dominion of the Persians and Romans, under the yoke of slavery, you did not know foreign gods. How can God, who was once all-merciful, who never forgot you, now take so long to be merciful over your misfortunes in order to free you from slavery and - or rather, to send you the desired Antichrist? For what, I say, crime, for what such a terrible crime did He turn His eyes away from you? Don't know? Remember the voices of your ancestors: His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25); let's go, kill him and take possession of his inheritance (Matthew 21:38); and one more thing: we have no king except Caesar (John 19:15). What has been given to you is what you yourself have chosen: until the end of the world you will serve Caesar, until the fullness of the nations comes in, and then all Israel is saved, so that those who were once at the head are placed at the tail. To you, most eloquent man, venerable in his double performance as prefect, and now even more venerable in Christ, I dictated this in a hasty and short manner, so as not to seem at all unresponsive. Because at one time, even on the same day, I received your letter and had to send mine, so it was necessary either not to answer you, or to answer with unskillful speech: being ashamed of the first, I chose the last, hoping for your love. Of all the subjects about which I have written from my youth until now, with my own hand or the hand of scribes, none is more difficult than the present. For if I, thinking of writing first in the Roman world both in nobility and in wealth to the virgin of Christ Demetrias, express everything according to her virtues, then I will be considered a flatterer; and if I keep silent about something so that what is said does not seem incredible, then my modesty will be to the detriment of her glory. So what to do? I don’t dare refuse what I cannot fulfill: with such authority they order, with such faith they ask, with such persistence (letters) are solicited by noble women - her grandmother and mother. And from me, who have often practiced in such matters, they do not demand anything new and special, but only wish that on the male side there should not be a lack of testimony in praising the virtues of one in whom, in the words of the famous orator, one should praise more the promising beginnings than the actual qualities, although with the warmth of faith she surpassed childhood years - she began where others end up, and achieved complete and perfect virtue. Let slander be removed, let hatred be silent; Let them not reproach me for being ambitious. Stranger, I am writing to a stranger, but only by physical appearance. Or the inner man, well known to the inner man by the same sign by which the Apostle Paul knew the Colossians and many believers whom he had not seen before. How highly I respect the merit of our virgin, and how amazed I am at her, can be seen from the fact that, busy with the explanation of the church of Ezekiel, - this most difficult question in all sacred Scripture, - and precisely that part of the church in which the Holy of Holies and the altar of incense are described, I wanted to take a little advantage of this entertainment in order to move from altar to altar and dedicate to eternal chastity a living sacrifice, acceptable to God, without any vice. I know that by the spell of the high priest the virgin veil has already covered the consecrated head and this great word of the apostle has been glorified: I want to present you all to Christ as a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2). Then the queen appeared at her right hand, dressed in a gilded robe and clothed with robes of various fabrics. Joseph was also clothed with this multi-woven garment, composed of a variety of many virtues, and it was once worn by the king’s daughters. Therefore, the bride herself rejoices and says: the king has brought me into his chambers (Song. 1:3), and the chorus of girlfriends answers: all the glory of the daughter of the King is within (Ps. 44:14). But my speech will also bring some benefit. The horses run faster from excitement; the courage of the fighters is aroused by shouts; the emperor's speech ignites the infantry regiments and the closed cavalry prepared for battle. So in the present case, although my grandmother and mother planted it, I will also water it, and the Lord will increase it. The rule among rhetoricians is to extol the person being praised, starting with grandfathers and great-grandfathers, in order to compensate for the sterility of the branches with the fertility of the root and to be surprised in the tree by what is not in the fruit. Therefore, I now need to list the glorious names of Probus and Olybriev and the famous family of the generation of Anikia, in which either everyone deserved or rarely did not deserve the consulate. But Olybrius, the father of our virgin, whose premature death was mourned by all of Rome, should be preferred above all. I am careful not to say much, so as not to irritate the wound of the holy mother and not to renew her sorrows with the memory of his virtues. A gentle son, a loving husband, a kind gentleman, an affable citizen, a consul in his youth, and a famous senator with good morals, he was happy with his death - that he died without seeing the death of his fatherland; but he is even happier with his offspring, having elevated the nobility of his great-grandmother Demetrias with the ever-present chastity of her daughter Demetrias. But what am I doing? Forgetting about my intention, marveling at the young maiden, I praised something from the blessings of the world, while my maiden deserves praise mainly because she despised all this, because she thought of herself not as noble, not as rich, but as a person. In the midst of jewels and luxury, she maintained incredible strength of spirit; Among the many eunuchs and maidservants, among the exquisite feasts that the rich, large household provided, she sought the feat of fasting, coarse clothing, and a strict lifestyle. For she read the words of the Lord, saying: those who wear soft garments are in the palaces of kings (Matthew 11:8). She revered the lives of Elijah and John the Baptist, who both girded themselves with a leather belt and mortified their loins, and of the latter it is said that he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, was the forerunner of the Lord, prophesied in the womb, and was praised by the word of the judge before the day of judgment. She was amazed at the strength of faith of Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, who served the Lord in prayer and fasting until her very old age. She sought to join the choir of the four virgins, the daughters of Philip, and desired to be one of these daughters who through virginal chastity achieved the grace of prophecy. She fed her soul with such and similar thoughts, fearing nothing so much as offending her grandmother and mother. Exciting her with their example, they frightened her with their intention and suggestion, not because they did not like her holy aspiration, but because, due to the greatness of the feat, they did not dare to desire and strive for it. The young disciple of Christ was burning. She hated her jewelry and spoke to the Lord with Esther: You know that I abhor the sign of my pride (i.e., the diadem that I wore as a queen), I abhor it as a garment defiled with blood (Esther 4:17). The saints and noble wives who saw and knew her, whom the cruel storm of enemies from the shores of Gaul through Africa drove to settle in holy places, say that secretly, with the knowledge only of the virgins of God who were in the company of her mother and grandmother, at night she never used linen and soft down jackets, but instead of a bed she laid a hair shirt on the bare ground, and sprinkled her face with abundant with tears, falling with her mind at the feet of the Savior, so that He would accept her intention, fulfill her desire, and bend the will of her grandmother and mother. But why take so long to spread? They say that she secretly and under the cover of darkness armed herself with such intentions even when the wedding day had already arrived and the bedroom was being prepared for the future marriage. What are you doing Demeter? Why do you defend chastity with such timidity? Act freely and boldly. If you are so fearful in the midst of the world, what will you do when you have to endure martyrdom? If you cannot stand the sight of your relatives, then how can you stand yourself before the tribunals of the persecutors? If the examples of men do not excite you, then let the blessed martyr Agnes, who defeated both age and the tyrant, and dedicated the church of chastity to martyrdom, convince and strengthen. You don’t know, unfortunate one, you don’t know to whom you owe your virginity. Once upon a time you trembled in the barbaric hands and on the chest of your grandmother and mother, hiding under their robes. You saw that you were in captivity, that your chastity was not in your power. You saw with horror the ferocious bodies of the enemies and with a silent cry you looked at the abduction of the virgins of God. Your city, which was once the head of the universe, has become the tomb of the Roman people. And meanwhile, on the Libyan coast, you, an exile yourself, want to take an exiled husband? What kind of matchmaker will you have? Who will be your guides? They will sing Fesuennine songs to you in the rough Carthaginian language. Don't hesitate. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Take the shield of faith, the armor of truth, the helmet of salvation, and go out to battle. And maintaining chastity has its martyrdom. Why are you afraid of your grandmother, why are you afraid of your mother? Maybe they themselves would wish it if they were sure of your desire. Excited by these and many other impulses, she discarded all bodily ornaments and secular clothing as obstacles to her intention. Expensive necklaces, valuable pearls and shiny gems return to the chests; she puts on a cheap tunic, covers herself with an even simpler robe, and suddenly suddenly throws herself at the grandmother’s feet and only shows by crying and sobbing what she is like. The holy and noble woman was amazed when she saw alien clothes on her granddaughter. The mother stood in a joyful daze. Neither one nor the other believed what they wanted to believe. The tongue stuck to the larynx; now blushing, now pale, now in fear, now in joy, they fluctuate with different thoughts. We need to stop here, and I will not continue the story about the fact that the story becomes less significant. With the expression of the greatness of incredible joy, the rivers of Cicero’s eloquence would dry up, and the deep and brilliant thoughts of Demosthenes would flow too slowly and sluggishly. At this time, everything that the mind can imagine, that a word can express, happened. Granddaughter and daughter, mother and grandmother vyingly rush into each other's arms, shed copious tears of joy, raise the fallen one and shower the trembling one with kisses. In her intention, they recognize their desire and rejoice that the maiden has further ennobled the noble family with her virginity. She found something that could elevate the race that adorns the tombs of Rome. Good Jesus, what delight there was in the whole house! As if from a fertile root, many maidens sprouted at once, and the example of the matron and mistress was followed by many clients and maids. All houses were seized by a fiery desire for virginity. And although the state of virgins was different according to the flesh, the reward of chastity was the same. That's not enough. All the African churches were inspired with some kind of delight. The glorious rumor not only spread through cities, towns and villages, but even penetrated into African huts. All the islands between Africa and Italy were enveloped in this rumor, and the joyful news spread unhindered along the path. Italy then shed her mourning clothes, and the dilapidated walls of the city of Rome partly regained their former splendor, seeing God’s mercy towards them in the conversion of their pet. One would think that the rule of the Goths was crushed and the rabble of nomads and slaves were exterminated by the lightning of the Lord who thundered from heaven. They were not so happy at the time when, after Trebius, Trasimene and Cannae, where thousands of Roman troops were stationed, for the first time the Roman people celebrated the victory of Marcellus at Nola. Previously, they were less happy about the defeat of the Gallic hordes, the monetary ransom of the aristocracy, and the preservation of a breeding ground for the Roman tribe in the fortress. The rumor about this reached the east, and in the Mediterranean cities the triumph of Christian glory was heard. Which of Christ's virgins did not boast of her company? What mother did not call your womb blessed, Juliana? Let the future rewards be unknown for the disbelievers. You, virgin, received more than you gave. What kind of bride of a person was known only by the province, but the whole world heard about the virgin of Christ. Poor parents and Christians who are not fully faithful have the habit of dooming their daughters, who are ugly and have defects in some member, to virginity because they do not find worthy sons-in-law. Wherever there is a pearl, as they say, there goes a piece of glass. It is those who consider themselves very pious, having given the virgins a small portion, barely enough for food, to give all their property to worldly children of both sexes. This is what a presbyter recently did in this city, leaving two virgin daughters poor and taking care of every abundance of luxury and pleasure for the other children. Unfortunately, many women of our vow do this, and oh, would such examples be rare; but the more often they do, the happier are those who did not follow the example of the majority. They say and extol with general Christian praise that everything prepared for the wedding was given by the holy duo of Christ 90 to the virgin, so as not to offend the Bridegroom, so that she would come to the Bridegroom with all her former wealth, and with the perishing objects of the world would help the poverty of the servants of God. Who would believe this? Probus, surrounded by all honors, is the most famous name in the aristocracy of the entire Roman world, which even the barbarians revered for its holiness and the good deeds poured out on everyone, which was not burdened by the ordinary consulate of the three sons of Probinus, Olybrius and Probus - now, after the capture of the burned and plundered city (Rome), they say, he is selling his family estates, making friends for himself from the mammon of untruth, so that they would introduce her into eternal shelters, sells, so that church officials of every degree and monks by name are ashamed to buy estates when such a celebrity sells them. She had barely escaped the hands of the barbarians and mourned the virgins torn from her embrace, when suddenly she was struck by the unbearable - because she had never feared this - the loss of her most beloved son; but as if intending to become the grandmother of the virgin of Christ, in hope for the future, she tore out a deadly wound, showing in herself the fulfillment of what is said in the lyrical verse in praise of the righteous: “If the broken world were to collapse, He will fall fearlessly under the ruins.” (Horac. lib. 3, Carm. oda 3). In the book of Job we read: he also said how another comes (Job 1), and in the same book: is it not a temptation (or, as is better in Hebrew, is it not malice) for man to live on earth (Ibid. 7:1). For this is why we toil and suffer in the malice of this world, so that we may be crowned in the future. And it is not surprising to think this about people when the Lord himself was tempted (Matthew 4). And about Abraham, Scripture testifies that God tempted him (Gen. 22), which is why the apostle says: we glory in tribulations, knowing that from tribulation comes patience, from patience comes experience, from experience comes hope, and hope does not disappoint (Rom. 5:3-5). And in another place: who will separate us from the love of God: sorrow, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? as it is written: For Your sake we are killed every day; we are counted as sheep doomed to the slaughter (Rom. 8:35–36). And Isaiah admonishes such people by saying: weaned from breast milk, weaned from their mother's breasts? For everything is commandment upon commandment, commandment upon commandment, line upon line (Isa. 28:9-10). The present temporary sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in them (Rom. 8:18). Why I cited these places will be shown later. Looking from the sea at the smoking fatherland and entrusting the salvation of herself and her loved ones to the unsteady boat, she finds the shores of Africa even more unfriendly. It falls into the hands of one about whom it is difficult to say whether he was more greedy or more cruel - one for whom there were no pleasures except wine and money 91 , who, ruling the province of the most merciful emperor 92 , was the cruelest of all tyrants and who (I will say something from the fables of poets), like Pluto in hell, had not a three-headed, but a multi-headed Cerberus, who dragged and gnawed everything 93. “Here they tore off mothers attached to their breasts,” sold noble maidens for marriage to merchants and the greediest of mortal Syrians, did not spare the helplessness of orphans, widows, or virgins of Christ, and looked more at the hands of those who asked than at the faces. The matron, fleeing from the barbarians, endured this terrible Charybdis and Scylla, surrounded by many dogs, who were not inclined to compassion either by the misfortunes they had suffered or by slavery. Inhumane one, at least follow the example of the enemy of the Roman Empire. Brenn of our time 94 took only what he found: you demand what you do not find. And envious people are surprised (for virtue is always open to envy) why she, by secret flight along with herself, redeemed the chastity of so many - they are surprised, while the one who could take away everything, of course, would consider himself entitled to receive his share in this, and she, who was in his power as a private woman, would not dare to refuse him this as a governor. I know that I am opening myself up to the attacks of enemies, that I seem to be lavishing flattery in front of a famous and noble woman. But my enemies will not be able to accuse me if they find out that I have been silent until now. For I never praised her for the antiquity of her family, for the abundance of wealth and greatness of power during her life and after the death of her husband, for which others praised her, perhaps with corrupt floridity. My goal is to give praise in church language to the grandmother of my virgin and thank her for supporting her intention with her will. On the other hand, a monastery cell, simple food, wretched clothing, an age close to death, and a short remaining career in life free me from any criticism of flattery. Finally, in the remaining parts of the letter, all my speech will be addressed to a virgin, and a noble virgin with no less holiness than her birth, for whom the more dangerous the fall, the higher the ascent. “I have one thing for you, born for God, then one thing above all, I will preach and, repeating, again and again I will inspire,” so that you occupy your mind with the love of sacred reading, so that on the good land of your heart you do not receive the seed of cockle and thistles, so that after the lord of the house has been put to sleep (which is νούς, that is, the spirit that always cleaves to God), the enemy of man does not sow tares; but so that you always say: at night I looked for him whom my soul loves (Song 3:1), where do you graze? where do you rest at noon? (ibid., 1:6), and again: my soul cleaves to You; Your right hand sustains me (Ps. 62:9), and also this to Jeremiah: I have not become weary in following you, for there is no weariness in Jacob, nor labor in Israel (Jer. 17:16). When you were in the world, you loved everything from the world; she loved to rub her face with whitewash and paint her cheeks with rouge, to tint her hair and build a tower of other people’s hair on the top of her head; not to mention expensive earrings, white pearls that testify to the depths of the Red Sea, green emeralds, fiery ceravnias, sea-colored yachts, which matrons love madly. And now, since you left the world and on the second stage after baptism you concluded an agreement with your enemy, saying to him: “I renounce you, devil, and your world, and your pride and your deeds” - keep the condition that you concluded, agree with it, and while you are on the path of this world, be faithful to the agreement with your enemy, so that he does not betray you to the judge and convict you of any violating the terms with him, so that you do not be betrayed to the servant, who is himself and your enemy and avenger, and not be thrown into prison (Matthew 5) and into total darkness, which the more removed from the true light - Christ, the more it inspires us with horror and from which you will not come out until you give up the last quadrant, i.e. until you repay even the slightest offense, for even for idle words we have to give account on the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36). Let this be said not in the sense of an unkind prediction for you, but out of duty as a cautious and warning advisor, who fears in you even for what is safe. If the boss’s anger flares up against you, then do not leave your place (Eccl. 10:4). We always stand as if in formation, as if preparing for battle. The enemy wants to knock us out of our place, to push us back; but we must strengthen our feet and say: I have set my feet on a rock (Ps. 39:3), and: stone cliffs are a refuge for hares (Ps. 103:18). Instead, some people read "hedgehogs." The hedgehog is a small animal that runs quickly and is covered with spines. But Jesus picked up a crown of thorns, bore our sins and suffered for us so that from the thorns and thistles of women, to whom it is said: in sickness, woman, you will bear children; and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you (Gen. 3:16), - roses of virginity and lilies of chastity were born. Therefore the bridegroom also rests among the lilies and among those who have not defiled their garments, for they have remained virgins, and who have obeyed the commandment: “Let your garments be bright at all times” (Eccl. 9:8) and, as the founder and head of virginity, they said with faith: I am the daffodil of Sharon, the lily of the valleys (Song. 2:1). So the stone is a refuge for hares, who, during persecution, run from city to city and are not afraid of this prophetic saying: there is no refuge for me (Ps. 142:5); - high mountains - chamois that feed on snakes, which a little child will lead out of the caves, when a lynx and a goat graze together, and an ox and a lion eat chaff - not so that the ox learns ferocity, but so that the lion learns meekness. Let's return to this evidence. If the boss's anger flares up against you, then do not leave your place. This follows: because meekness covers even greater offenses. This verse has the following meaning: If a serpent enters into your thoughts, then guard your heart with all guarding and sing with David: Cleanse me from my secret secrets and keep your servant from plotting (Ps. 18:13–14); Then you will not reach the greatest sin, which is not carried out in practice, but you will immediately enslave sinful impulses in your mind and smash the Babylonian babies on a stone on which the traces of the serpent are not visible, and you will give the Lord a humble promise: so that they do not prevail over me. Then I will be blameless and pure from great corruption (Ps. 18:14). The same Scripture testifies in another place: He punishes the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation (Num. 14:18), that is: God does not punish us directly for our very thoughts and dispositions of spirit, but rewards them for them in their descendants, i.e. in evil deeds and in sinful stubbornness, as he says through Amos: for three crimes of Damascus and for four I will not spare him (Amos 1:3, 2:4). For your conviction, it is enough, so to speak, to quickly pluck these few flowers from the beautiful meadow of the Scriptures - so that you lock the spoon of your heart and protect your forehead with the frequent sign of the cross, so that the destroyer of Egypt does not find a place in you, but so that the firstborn, who perished among the Egyptians, are saved in your soul, and you say with the prophet: my heart is ready, O God, [my heart is ready]; I will sing and make praise in my glory. Arise, psaltery and harp (Ps. 107:2–3). Tire, imbued with many sinful wounds, is commanded to take this harp, so that he will repent and wash away the filth of his former sinfulness with Peter with bitter tears. And we should not know repentance, so as not to easily succumb to sin. Let repentance be, so to speak, the second plank for the wicked after shipwreck, but in the virgin, let the ship itself remain intact. It’s another thing to look for what you’ve lost, and another thing to possess what you’ve never lost. Therefore, the apostle mortified his body and enslaved it, so that when preaching to others, he would not himself be excluded, and on behalf of the human race, burning with carnal desires, he says: poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death (Rom. 7:24)? And again: for I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; because the desire for good is in me, but I don’t find it to do it. The good that I want I do not do, but the evil that I do not want I do (vv. 18-19). And after this: therefore those who live according to the flesh cannot please God. But you do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you (Rom. 8:8-9). After carefully observing your thoughts, you must arm yourself with fasting and sing with David: fasting with my soul (Ps. 68:11); I eat ashes like bread (Ps. 101:10); and one more thing: during their illness he dressed in sackcloth (Ps. 34:13). Eve was expelled from paradise through eating. Elijah, strengthened by a forty-day fast, ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire (1 Kings 19). Moses feeds on communication and conversation with God for forty days and nights (Exodus 24:18), truly confirming what was said: man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). The Savior of the human race, who left us the image of his virtues and life, immediately after baptism is raised up by the Spirit to fight the devil, so that, having defeated and crushed him, he will hand him over to his disciples to be trampled under foot. Therefore, the apostle says: the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet (Rom. 16:20). However, the original enemy, after a forty-day fast, plots temptation with food and says: if you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread (Matthew 4:3). According to the law, in the seventh month after the sound of the trumpets, on the tenth day of the month, a fast is appointed for the entire Jewish people, and that soul from its people is consumed that prefers satiety to abstinence. Job writes about the dragon: “his strength is in his loins, and his strength is in the midst of his belly” (Job 38). Against young men and maidens, our enemy uses the fire of adolescence and ignites the chariot of our nature in fulfillment of the words of Hosea: they all burn with adultery, like a furnace (Hosea 7:4), which are extinguished by the grace of God and the severity of fasting. Such are the kindled arrows of the devil, which together both wound and ignite, and are prepared for the three youths by the king of Babylon, who kindles a furnace of forty-nine cubits, having himself seven weeks for destruction, which the Lord commanded to be observed for salvation. And how there the fourth, who had the appearance of a son of man, cooled the greatest heat and, in the midst of a red-hot furnace, took away its burning heat from the flame, so that for the touch it did not provide what it threatened for the sight: so in the virgin soul, youthful passion is extinguished by the heavenly dew and the severity of fasting, and an angelic life is achieved in the human body. Therefore, the chosen vessel also says that he has no commandment from the Lord about those who are not married, since not to do what you were born for, to kill your root within yourself, to eat only the fruits of virginity, not to know the marriage bed, to be afraid of any touch of men and to live in the body without a body is contrary to nature and above nature. I do not prescribe for you excessive fasting and excessive abstinence in food, which quickly weakens delicate natures and rather upsets health than lays the foundation for a holy life. And philosophers have a maxim: μεσότητας α ̓ ρετάς υ ̓ περβολάς χαχίας ε ̎ ιναι - which can be translated as follows: “moderation is a virtue, and excess and beyond measure are considered vice." Therefore, one of the sages 95 says: “nothing in excess.” This saying became so famous that it was also presented in a comic work. You should not fast to the point of trembling, to the point of barely catching your breath, or to the point of being carried or dragged by your companions, but you should fast in such a way that, while destroying the lusts of the flesh, you are able to not shorten your readings, psalms, or vigils in any way as usual. Fasting is not a virtue in itself, but only the basis of other virtues; just as innocence and purity, without which no one will see God, constitute a step for those seeking the highest virtues, but if there is only one, then it cannot yet give the virgin a crown. Let us recall in the Gospel about the wise and foolish virgins, some of whom are led into the groom’s chamber, while others, not having the oil of good deeds, are expelled with their lamps extinguished (Matthew 25). Above the posts lies a field into which I often ran, about which many deliberate books have been written, to the reading of which I refer you, so that you can learn how much good there is in abstinence, and how much evil there is in satiety. Imitate your groom: obey your grandmother and mother. Do not see any of the men, especially young men, except with them. Don't know anyone they don't know. And a worldly proverb says: “only friendship is strong when they want the same thing and don’t want the same thing.” To strive for virginity, to know the commandments of Christ, to understand what is good for you and what you should love - their examples taught you all this - the holy life at home taught you all this. Do not consider what you have only as yours, but attribute it to those who passed on their chastity to you and grew in you the fragrant flower of an honest marriage and an undefiled bed, a flower that will bear the most perfect fruits if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and always remember what is written: The Lord resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). And where there is grace, there is no reward for deeds, but only the mercy of the giver, in fulfillment of the words of the apostle: not from him who wills, nor from him who runs, but from God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). However, whether to want or not is in our power; but even that very thing that is ours is not ours without the mercy of God. Let before your eyes be more the morals of eunuchs, young women and slaves, and not beautiful faces; in every sex and age, even in the forced chastity of eunuchs with truncated limbs, attention must be paid to the soul, which can only be curbed by the fear of Christ. Let jokes and liberties have no place in your presence. Never listen to an indecent word, and if you hear it, don’t understand it. People of depraved minds tear the veils of chastity with one frequent and easy word; leave it to the people of the world to ridicule and be ridiculed. Severity suits your person. Lucilius writes that Cato (I’m talking about Cato the Censor) and once the head of our city, who was not ashamed of his censorial dignity and did not despair of learning Greek in his old age, and M. Crassus laughed only once in their lives. It was unnecessary importance, seeking glory and popular fame, and we can moderate passions and excitement and control them, although we cannot cut them off while we live in the church of this body and are clothed with mortal flesh. Therefore, the psalmist says: when you are angry, do not sin (Ps. 4:5). Excusing this, the apostle says this: let not the sun go down on your anger (Eph. 4:26); because if it is human nature to be angry, then it is natural for a Christian to tame anger. I think that it is unnecessary to tell you instructions against stinginess, when the distinctive property of your family was to have and trample on wealth, and when the Apostle teaches that the love of money is idolatry (Eph. 5:5), and the Lord answers the questioner: Good Teacher! What good thing can I do to have eternal life? - if you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me (Matthew 19:16, 21). To sell everything and give to the poor and thus soar easily and unhindered with Christ to heaven is a matter of apostolic greatness and perfect virtue. We, or better yet you, are invited to think seriously, since in this every age and every person is given free will. If you want, he says, to be perfect. I don’t force, I don’t order, but I offer a palm tree, I show awards: the choice depends on you if you want to receive a crown through struggle and feat. Let us pay attention to how wisely wisdom said: sell your possessions. To whom is this prescribed? Of course, to the one who is told: if you want to be perfect. Sell ​​not part of your estate, but all of it. And when you sell, what next? And give it to the poor. Not for the rich, not for relatives, not for luxury, but for need. Whether he is a priest, an acquaintance or a relative, do not take this into account, but only poverty. Let the wombs of the hungry praise you, and not the luxurious feasts of the satiated. According to the Acts of the Apostles, when the blood of our Lord was still warm and when the new faith of the believers was still burning, they sold all their possessions and laid down the proceeds at the feet of the apostles to show that money should be trampled under foot; and it was given to everyone as much as anyone needed. Ananias and Sapphira were fearful donors, or, better yet, double-minded, and for this they were condemned, because after the vow they offered what was theirs, and not what belonged to Him to whom they had once dedicated it, and kept part of someone else’s property, fearing hunger, which true faith is not afraid of. They deserved their punishment not because of their hardness of heart, but as an example of punishment. And the Apostle Peter does not ask for their death, as the foolish Porfiry slanderes, but in a prophetic spirit he proclaims the judgment of God, so that the punishment of two people will serve as a lesson for many. From the time you devoted yourself to perpetual virginity, what was yours, which during the life of your grandmother or mother should have been distributed according to their will, became no longer yours, because it became Christ’s. And when they die and rest in holy sleep (because I know that they also want you to survive them), when a more mature age comes, when the character is more serious and the thought is firmer; then do what you please, or better yet, what the Lord commands, do it in the conviction that you will have nothing except what you spend on good deeds. Let others build churches, decorate the walls with marble, bring in blocks for the columns, gild their capitals, which do not feel precious decoration, let them decorate the doors with ivory and silver, and let the gilded altars with precious stones. I don’t reproach, I don’t forbid. Let everyone exuberantly according to his own feelings. It's better to do this than to lie on stacked treasures. But you are destined for something else: to clothe Christ in the face of the poor, to visit the sick, to feed the hungry, to receive Him to the homeless and especially to those close to the faith, to feed the monasteries of virgins and servants of God, to take care of the poor in spirit, who serve your Lord day and night, who, living on earth, imitate the life of the angels and say nothing other than praises to God, who, having food and clothes, rejoice at this wealth, do not want to have anything else, if only they fulfill their vow; otherwise, if they desire more, they turn out to be unworthy of even the most necessary things. This is what I said to the rich virgin and the noble virgin. Now I will only speak to a virgin, i.e. meaning not your outer, but only your inner. In addition to the rites of psalms and prayers, which you should always perform at the third, sixth and ninth hours, at Vespers, Midnight Office and Matins, assign yourself how many hours to study the Holy Scriptures, how much time to read - not for work, but for the delight and edification of the soul. At the end of these lessons and after repeated genuflections for the salvation of the soul, always take the wool in your hands, or draw out the threads for the warp with your finger, or transfer the weft threads in the shuttle; stranded by others or wound into a ball, or spun for weaving. Consider what has been woven, correct what has been done poorly, give orders what needs to be done. If you are busy with so many different things, then the days will never seem long to you, and even in the summer they will seem short, during which some omission is made in the work. By doing this, you yourself will be saved, and you will save others, and you will be a teacher of holy life, and the chastity of many will be your service. Scripture says: every soul is idle in lust (Prov. 13:4). You should not withdraw from work because, by the grace of God, you do not need anything, but you should work with everyone so that while working you do not think about anything else except what relates to serving the Lord. I’ll simply say: even if you distributed all your property to the poor, nothing will be as dear to Christ as what you do with your own hands, either for your own needs, or as an example to other virgins, or what you bring to your grandmother and mother in the hope of receiving large benefits from them for the benefit of the poor. But I almost missed the most important thing. When you were still a girl, and when the Roman Church was ruled by Bishop Anastasius, of holy and blessed memory, a fierce storm of heretics arose from the east and tried to desecrate and weaken the simplicity of the faith attested by the word of the apostles. But the man of great poverty and apostolic jealousy immediately struck down the harmful head and blocked the hissing lips of the hydra. And since I fear, and even know from rumors, that poisonous offspring still live and grow in some, then, no matter how prudent and experienced you may seem, I consider it necessary, in the name of holy love, to warn you so that you adhere to the faith of Saint Innocent, the successor in the apostolic see and the son of the above-mentioned husband, and not to accept the stated teaching. For heretics, as if seeking the truth of God, usually whisper this kind of thought around the corners: “Why was that soul born in that country? Why are some born from Christian parents, and others among the wildest and most ferocious peoples, where there is no concept of God?” Having struck the simpletons with this, as it were, with the sting of a scorpion, and in order to pave the way for themselves, opening the wound, they pour in poison. Do you really think (they say) that a baby who, with laughter and joy on his face, barely shows that he recognizes his mother, who has done nothing good and is not corrupted by the demon of evil - that this baby is innocently exposed to jaundice, and suffers what, as we see, the wicked do not endure, but the servants of God endure? If, they say, the judgments of God are true, right in themselves (Ps. 19:10), and there is nothing unjust with God, then, naturally, we must admit that souls were condemned in heaven and in human bodies, or, so to speak, buried for some previous sins, and that we, in the vale of mourning, bear punishment for previous crimes. Therefore, the prophet says: before my suffering I was mistaken (Ps. 119:67), and also: lead my soul out of prison (Ps. 142:8), and also: who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2), and so on. “This wicked and pernicious teaching was once in vogue in Egypt and the eastern countries and now lives among many secretly, as if in the caves of vipers, desecrates the purity of those countries, and, like an infectious disease, creeps into the few, in order to then spread to the very many. I am sure that if you hear it, you will not accept this teaching. For you have teachers in God, whose faith is an example of teaching. You understand what I'm talking about because God has given you understanding in everything. Against wild heresy and against even more obscene than what I spoke about, do not immediately ask for an answer from this husband, so that it does not seem that I am not so much warning you against heresy as drawing you into it, since the purpose of this work is to instruct a virgin, and not to answer heretics. However, with the help of God, I refuted all their false thinking and the undermining with which they try to distort the truth in another work, which, if you want, I will quickly and willingly send, since unsolicited gifts, they say, are unpleasant, and rewards received easily lose their value, and on the contrary, are more appreciated if they are given rarely. Many people usually argue whether a hermit’s life is better or a communal life, and they prefer the former to the latter. But if the hermit life for men poses the danger that, having separated from communication with people, they can be susceptible to vile and wicked thoughts and, filled with arrogance and pride, can despise everyone and sharpen their tongues, condemning either clergy or other monks, which is very rightly said: the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and whose tongue is a sharp sword (Ps. 57:5); – then isn’t single life all the more dangerous for women, whose changeable and fickle mind, if left to its own arbitrariness, soon falls into the worst? I know some of both sexes whose brains were so upset due to excessive abstinence, especially those who lived in damp and cold cells, that they did not know what to do and where to turn, did not know what to say and what not to say. If these ignoramuses in secular sciences read anything from the treatises of scientists, they memorized only words without understanding what was written and, according to the old proverb, not being able to speak, they did not know how to remain silent. They teach Scripture which they do not understand, and in instructing others they take upon themselves the arrogance of the learned - these are more teachers of the ignorant than disciples of the learned. So, it is a good deed to obey your elders, obey your superiors, and after the rules of Scripture, learn the way of life from others, and not be guided by the worst teacher, i.e. pride. The apostle also speaks of such women: those who are tossed to and fro and carried away by every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14); always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7). Avoid the company of matrons and those living in the world with their husbands, so as not to be troubled in spirit and not to hear what a husband says to his wife, or a wife to her husband. Such communities are harmful. Condemning these, the apostle, citing a secular verse, makes it ecclesiastical; bad communities corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33). The Latin translation does not fully express the meter of this iambic verse, if we convey it word for word. Choose as your companions strict wives, and especially widows and virgins, whose lives are impeccable, whose speech is modest, and whose chastity is sacred. Avoid the freedom of girls who adorn their heads, let down their hair, shine their skin, blush, wear tight gloves, a dress without folds and creaking shoes, so that it is more convenient to die with the name of the girls. For the morals and inclinations of mistresses are judged mostly by the morals of their maids and companions. Your good, your beloved, your friend should be considered the one who does not consider herself beautiful, who does not care about the beauty of her face and in public places does not expose her breasts and neck, and when she lowers her robe does not reveal her upper back, but covers her appearance and walks with one eye slightly open in order to see the road. I doubt whether to say it, but whether I want to or not, I have to say it, because it happens often; - not, however, because I am afraid of this in you, who may not know this and have never heard of it, but in order to warn others about you. Let the virgin be removed, like some kind of ulcer and poison for chastity, the curled and perfumed youths, about whom the Arbiter says: “He who smells good does not smell good.” I’m not talking about others, whose untimely visit dishonors both her and others, so even if there was nothing bad in this, it is already the greatest evil that the pagans are in vain given a reason for slander and mockery. I do not say this about everyone, but only about those whom the church itself condemns and sometimes casts out, on whom the accusations of bishops and presbyters often fall, so that it is almost more dangerous for girls of easy virtue to go to places of worship than to public places. Let those who live in a monastery and live together in large numbers never go out alone, never without their mother. From a flock of pigeons, a hawk often separates one, which it immediately attacks and tears to pieces, feasting on its flesh and blood. Frail sheep fall behind their flock and are devoured by the jaws of wolves. I know holy virgins who, on holidays, due to the multitude of people, do not cross the threshold of their homes and do not go out even when they need to be extremely careful and almost avoid the public. Almost thirty years ago I published a book on the preservation of virginity, in which I needed to release against vices and reveal the fetters of the devil in order to admonish the virgin to whom I wrote. This offended many, since everyone, taking what was said to themselves, reluctantly listened to me as a mentor, but turned away as an exposer of their iniquities. However, what was the benefit of arming the loudmouths against me with my lamentation and opening up the wound of my conscience? The books remained, but the people died. I wrote to many virgins and widows σπουδασμάτια 96, and whatever could have been said in those little books was all written out, so that it was either unnecessary to repeat the same thing, or what I omitted now would have brought more harm. And blessed Cyprian published an excellent book on virginity and many others, both in Latin and Greek; the life of α ̓ϒ νή 97 is praised in the scriptures and in the languages ​​of all nations and especially in the churches. But all this applies to those who have not yet chosen virginity and need instruction in order to know how high is what they should choose. But we need to preserve what we have chosen and walk, as it were, among scorpions and snakes, so that, having girded our loins, put shoes on our feet and taking staffs in our hands, we walk among the fetters and temptations of this world in order to reach the sweet waters of the Jordan, enter the land of promise, ascend into the house of God and say with the prophet: Lord! I loved the abode of Your house and the place of the dwelling of Your glory (Ps. 25:8) and one more thing: I asked one thing of the Lord, this only do I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Ps. 26:4). Happy is that conscience and blessed is that maiden in whose heart, apart from the love of Christ, which is wisdom, purity, patience and truth and other virtues, no other love lived, who never sighed at the memory of a person and did not want to see someone whom she would not want to leave. By having some who behave badly, they dishonor the holy vow of virgins and the glory of heavenly and angelic life. They should be told directly to either encroach if they cannot resist, or to hold back if they do not want to encroach. It is worthy of laughter, or better yet of tears, that when the mistresses come, the servant girl goes more elegantly, so that, as is the general custom, you very often recognize the mistress as the one you see worse dressed. Some want to live in separate rooms, without strangers, in order to live more freely, wash in baths, do whatever they want, and tempt the conscience of many. We see and tolerate this, and if gold glitters at the same time, we consider it to be good deeds. I connect the end with the beginning and am not content with a one-time admonition. Love the Holy Scripture and wisdom will love you, accept it and preserve you, almost it will embrace you. Let these decorations be on your chest and in your mouth, let your tongue know nothing but Christ; let him say nothing except what is holy. May your lips always contain the sweetness of your grandmother and mother, imitation of whom constitutes a model of virtue. You did not act impudently, as you falsely imagine, but in a friendly and circumspect manner when you sent me a new question on an old subject. Even before your letter, this question in the east misled many, forcing them, under the guise of humility, to teach pride, and to say along with the devil: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will be like the Most High (Is. 14:13-14). For what kind of recklessness can there be, more than that, to assimilate to oneself, not, I say, likeness, but equality to God, and in a short position to grasp everything that is poisonous from the heretics, that the Stoics borrowed from the philosophers and especially from Pythagoras and Zeno? They believe that it is possible to destroy in the soul what the Greeks call πα ̓ϧ η, and we can call mental disturbances (perturbationes), i.e. sadness and joy, hope and fear, of which two relate to the present, and two to what is to be; and that with reflection and constant exercise in virtue, absolutely no trace or root of vices may remain in a person. Both the Peripatetics, who originate from Aristotle, and the new academicians, whom Tullius follows, speak very strongly against them; and they refute - I’m not saying their experiences, which do not exist, but dreams and assumptions. For this means to destroy man in man, and to live in the form of man without a body; You can rather wish for this than teach about it, as the apostle says: poor man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:24). But since a letter cannot contain everything, I will briefly indicate to you what should be avoided. There is also a verse from Virgil: That is why they have fear and desire, sorrow and joy; don't see And they are lights, imprisoned in a stuffy and gloomy dungeon. For who can not be delighted with joy, not grieved with sorrow, not encouraged with hope, not tremble with fear? Why did the most severe of poets, Flaccus, write in satire: No one is born without vices: the best is the one One of our 98 says very well: philosophers are the patriarchs of heretics. With perverse teaching they stain the purity of the church; as if they don’t know the famous saying: what is the pride of earth and ashes? (Sir. 10:9). Especially when the apostle also says: I see in my members another law, warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive (Rom. 7:23), and also: what I want, I do not do, but what I do not want, I do (ibid., v. 19). If he does what he does not want, then how can it be that they say that a person can be without sin if he wants? How can he be what he wants, when the apostle claims that he cannot do what he wants? And when we ask them who these people are, whom they consider sinless, they want to evade the truth through a new trick: we are not talking about those who existed, but about those who could exist. The most excellent teachers, they say, prove that there can be something that has never been, although Scripture says: it will be, but it already happened in the centuries that were before us (Eccl. 1:9-10). In this case, there is no need for me to go through each of the saints and, as it were, to point out some wrinkles and spots on a most beautiful body. This is what many of our people do out of simplicity, although they could refute the arguments of the heretics, and through them the philosophers, with a few sayings of the Scriptures. For what does the chosen vessel say? For God has shut all in sin, that He might have mercy on all (Rom. 11:32), and in another place: because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (ibid. 3:23). Likewise, Ecclesiastes, through whose mouth wisdom itself spoke, declares frankly and says: there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin (Eccl. 7:21). And again: if your people sin, for there is no man who does not sin (1 Kings 8:46) And again: who can say: “I have purified my heart?” (Prov. 20:9). And - no one is clean from filth, even one day of his life on earth (Job 14:4-5). That is why David says: behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and my mother gave birth to me in sin (Ps. 50:7). And in another psalm: not one living will be justified before You (Ps. 143:2). They make fun of the latest evidence, under the guise of piety, a new kind of reasoning. They say that no one is perfect compared to God. As if Scripture expressed itself in this sense? After all, it does not say: no one living will be justified in comparison with you; a - not one living will be justified before You. For when they say: before You, this makes it clear that even those who seem holy to people are not at all holy according to the knowledge and understanding that God has. Man looks at the face, but God looks at the heart. If there is no one righteous, when God looks and contemplates everything, who is not deceived by the secrets of the heart, then this clearly shows that heretics do not exalt man to heaven, but deny the power of God, and so on (because if I decided to cite everything that is in the Holy Scriptures, I would overstep the boundaries of not only letters, but also books). Nothing new is added by those who, in the self-praising treachery of this kind, although they lead astray the simple and unlearned, are unable to lead the ministers of the church, who study the law of God day and night, into error. Let them be ashamed of their leaders and allies who say that a person can, if he wants, be without sin, which the Greeks call α ̓ ναμα ̓ ρτητον. Since the Eastern churches cannot hear the last word, they pretend that although they say - without sin, they do not have the ability to say α ̓ ναμα ̓ ρτητον; as if - without sin - one thing, and α ̓ ναμα ̓ ρτητον - another, and as if Latin speech would express in two words a non-Greek word that they formed! If you say: without sin, but refuse to say α ναμα ρτητον, then pronounce condemnation on those who preach α ναμα ρτητον. But you don't. You know what you secretly taught your students. You say one thing with your tongue, and keep another secret; and to us, strangers and unlearned people, you speak in parables, but you initiate your own people into the sacrament, and you boast that you do so according to the Scriptures; because it is said: Jesus spoke to the people in parables (Matthew 13:34), but to the disciples in the house he said: it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given (ibid., v. 11). But first, I will briefly put to shame the names of your leaders and allies, so that you can see whose company you boast of. Manichaeus says that his chosen ones, whom he places in heaven between α ̓ ψίδας 99 of Plato, have no sin at all and cannot sin even if they wanted to, because they have reached such a high degree of virtue that they laugh at the deeds of the flesh. Manichaean's accomplice Priscillian in Spain (for whose dissipation your disciples especially love you, foolishly attributing to you perfection and wisdom in teaching) locks himself alone with the women, and in the intervals between copulation and embraces, he sings to them a well-known song: Then the father almighty ether with fruitful rain Descends into the bosom of a happy wife: that’s all The fruits are nourished by the great one, mingling with the great body They also have a share of the Gnostic heresy, which came to them from the wickedness of Basilides. From there you also claim that those who do not know the law cannot avoid sin. But why am I talking about Priscillian, to whom both the civil sword and the universal power pronounced sentence? 100 Evagrius Pontik the Iberian, who wrote to the virgins, who wrote to the monks, who wrote to the one whose dark treachery is evidenced by her name of blackness 101, published a book and thoughts περί α ̓ πα ϧ είας, which we can translate with the word “dispassion” or “equanimity”, when the soul is not in In any case, he is not outraged by any excitement, and to put it simply, he represents either a stone or God. His books, in the East in Greek, and in the West in Latin, translated by his student Rufinus, are read by many. This latter also wrote a book supposedly about monks; but in it he listed many who never existed, and among the former he describes the Origenists, and those about whom it is undoubtedly known that they were condemned by the bishops, that is: Ammonius, Eusebius, Euphemius, Evagrius himself, as well as Isidore, and many others, whom it is boring to re-read. At the same time, according to Lucretius: Like doctors, when they think of giving children wormwood, Coat the glass around the edges with moisture in advance. Golden, sweet honey. (Lukrets on the nature of things, book 4) So, at the beginning of his book, he put one John, about whom it is undoubtedly known that he was both Orthodox and a saint, so that, under his cover, he could include among the members of the church the rest of the heretics he exposed. And who is able to fully understand his recklessness and stupidity, that under the false name of Sixtus, a martyr and bishop of the Roman Church, he wrote the book of Sixtus the Pythagorean, a man who had no idea about Christ and a pagan? So he inscribed a book in which a lot is said about perfection according to the teachings of the Pythagoreans, who equate man with God and attribute to him the divine nature; and this is so that those who do not know the philosopher’s books will drink from the golden cup of Babylon in the name of the martyr. Finally, in the book itself there is no mention of prophets, patriarchs, apostles, or Christ, in order to convey the idea that the bishop and martyr did not have faith in Christ. From this book you also provide a lot of evidence against the church. He did the same with the name of the holy martyr Pamphilus: the first of six books, in defense of Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, about whom everyone knows that he was an Arian, he signed the name of the martyr Pamphilus with the aim, of course, of introducing the Latins to the famous excellent four books of Origen περί А ρχω ͂ ν. Do you want to know another one of the culprits of your delusions? Your teaching is an outgrowth of Origen. Regarding the psalm in which it is written (about the others I’m already silent): even before the night my womb taught me (Ps. 15:7), he asserts that a holy man, to which of course you belong, when he reaches the height of virtues, even during the night does not experience what is characteristic of a person, even in his thoughts he does not feel any vicious tickling. Don’t you blush for a community with such persons whom you dare not name, but in whose blasphemy you participate? The second question of Jovian 102 occupies your head too. What serves as an answer to him, then surely serves as an answer to you. It cannot be that those who have the same thought come to a different decision. As soon as this is so, what do these pitiful little women want, burdened with sins, blown by every wind of doctrine, always learning and never reaching the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3:7)? What do those women's accomplices want, who feel itching in their ears and do not understand what they hear, what they say - who mistake very old dirt for a newly made composition - smear, according to Ezekiel, the wall in bad weather, and run away when the rain of truth comes? Simon the Magician invented a heresy with the help of the harlot Helen. Nicholas of Antioch, the inventor of all kinds of uncleanness, led women's round dances. Apelles had Philumena as an accomplice in his teaching. Montanus, the preacher of the unclean spirit, through Prisca and Maximilla, noble and rich women, first seduced with gold, and then desecrated many churches with heresy. I’ll leave the ancient examples and move on to the near ones. Arius, hoping to lead the world astray, first enticed the emperor's sister. Donatus in Africa took advantage of Lucilla's wealth to defile some unfortunate people with swamp water. In Spain, Agapia - the woman Elpidia - led a blind man into a pit; this one had as his successor Priscillian, who was a zealous student of the magician Zoroaster and from the magician - a bishop; and the latter’s accomplice, Galla, left behind her, as the heiress of both heresies, wandering everywhere, a woman related to her not by origin, but by name 103 . And now the mystery of wickedness is being accomplished. Both sexes substitute their foot for each other, and one inevitably comes to the well-known prophetic saying: a partridge sits on eggs that it did not lay; such is he who acquires wealth by unrighteousness: he leaves it half his days, and remains a fool at the end (Jer. 17:11). And what they later added to this thought to seduce all kinds of people, although at first glance it attracts, but if you look at it and carefully disassemble it, it cannot captivate. For they do not represent the grace of God in such a way that in every particular task we are strengthened and controlled by its help; but they believe it in free will and in the prescriptions of the law, referring to the well-known saying of Isaiah: for God will give the law to help (Is. 8:20); so we should thank God that He created us this way, that we can, of our own free will, choose good and avoid evil. And saying this, they do not understand that the devil is still hissing through their lips, unbearably blaspheming. For if the grace of God consists only in the fact that He created us with a personal will, and we retain free will; and if we do not even need His help, since such a need would destroy free will: then in no case should we pray, we should not turn to His mercy with prayers, so that He would give us daily what is once and for all given to our power. People of this type deny prayer, and, speaking of free will, present themselves as created not with the will characteristic of people, but with the power characteristic of God, who does not need anyone's help. They deny fasting and all abstinence. For what need do I have to work in order to strive to achieve what is once and for all given to my power? This is not my own argument: this is how one of his students philosophizes and argues, or rather, the teacher and leader of the entire crowd, a vessel of destruction, rebelling against the apostle with the pitiful weapon of not syllogisms (as they boast), but solecisms. “If I do nothing without God’s help, and if, therefore, for every action that I perform, the glory will not belong to me, but to God’s help in me: then in vain God gave me freedom, which I cannot use, if He himself does not always help me. That will is insignificant, which needs someone else's help. But God gave free will, which otherwise would not be free if I do not do whatever I want. And therefore, he says, either I always use the power that is given to me, and then free will is preserved; or I need the help of another, and in this case the freedom of will in me is destroyed.” Doesn’t he who speaks this way fall into extreme blasphemy, and is not superior to heretics in the harm they cause? They claim that with free will, they no longer have any need for God; but they do not know what is written: What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if you didn’t receive it? (1 Cor. 4:7). The one who, taking advantage of free will, rebels against God expresses great gratitude to God?! And we willingly recognize freedom, but in the same way that we always thank the generous giver of it, and we know that we are nothing unless the giver himself preserves in us what is given, according to the word of the Apostle: not from him who wills, and not from him who runs, but from God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). To want and to flow is my business; but what is mine will not be mine without the constant help of God. For the same apostle says: God works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). He is always a generous giver, always a giver. Since what He has given is not enough for me, if He does not always give. I ask to receive; and having received it, I ask again. I am greedy to receive the benefits of God; and just as He does not tire of giving, so I will not be satisfied with receiving. The more I drink, the more thirsty I become. For I read the song of the psalmist: taste and see how good the Lord is (Ps. 33:9). Whatever good we have we eat from the Lord. When I think about myself that I have already reached the pinnacle of virtues, I find myself only at the beginning of the path. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Ps. 111:10), which is driven out and destroyed by love. The only perfection for people is if they recognize themselves as imperfect. And you, he says, when you have fulfilled everything commanded to you, say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do (Luke 17:10). If the one who did everything is ineffective (useless), what can we say about the one who could not do everything? Why does the apostle say about himself that he has received in part, and has understood in part, and is still far from perfect - he forgets what is behind and extends to what is before (1 Cor. 13:9; cf. Phil. 3:13). He who always forgets the past and desires the future makes it clear that he is dissatisfied with the present. As for those who shout from all sides that we are destroying free will, let them know that, on the contrary, they are destroying free will, using it badly, contrary to the good deeds of the one who gave it. Who destroys freedom: the one who always thanks God and takes everything that flows in his stream to the source, or the one who says: get away from me, for I am pure (Isaiah 65:5), I have no need of you? You once gave me free will to do whatever I want: why do you interfere again so that I can’t do anything until you replenish your gifts to me?.. You falsely represent the grace of God when you take it for a human property and do not ask for God’s help for every task; Do not lose your free will as a result of this, and despising God’s help, do not ask for human help. Listen, I beg you, listen to the blasphemer. “If,” he says, I want to bend my finger, move my hand, sit down, stand, walk, run, spit, blow my nose with two fingers, defecate, get rid of urine, will I really always need God’s help? Listen, ungrateful one, listen, blasphemer, to what the apostle preaches: whether you eat, drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31); Jacob’s saying is equally well known: now listen to you who say: “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and we will live there for one year, and we will trade and make a profit”; you who do not know what will happen tomorrow: for what is your life? A breath of wind or steam that appears for a short time and then disappears. Instead of saying to you: “If the Lord wills and we live, we will do this or that,” you, in your arrogance, become vain: all such vanity is evil (James 4:13–16). Do you think that it is offensive to you, and free will is destroyed, if God the Creator always remains your support, if you depend on His will, and you say: my eyes are always towards the Lord, for He pulls my feet out of the net (Ps. 24:15)? That is why you dare to boldly assert that everyone is governed according to his own arbitrariness, and if everyone is governed according to his own arbitrariness, then what is God’s help for? – If there is no need for Christ as a ruler, then how does Jeremiah write: his way is not in the will of man (Jer. 10:23), and man’s feet are established by the Lord (Ps. 36:23)? You say that God's commandments are easy; however, you cannot point to anyone who would do everything. Answer me, are they easy or difficult? If they are easy, tell me who performed them, and why David sings in the psalm: those who intend violence contrary to the law (Ps. 93:20); and again: according to the word of Your mouth, I guarded myself from the ways of the oppressor (Ps. 16:4); and the Lord says in the Gospel: enter through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13), and love your enemies and pray for those who oppress you (Matthew 5:44)? If they are difficult, then how dare you say that God’s commandments are easy when no one has fulfilled them? Don't you understand how your thoughts contradict each other? Or they are easy, in which case there are countless people who have performed them; or they are difficult, and then you foolishly called what is difficult easy. Do you usually speak like this? “The commandments are either possible to fulfill, and in this case they are rightly given by God; or impossible, and then it is not those who received the commandments who are to blame, but the one who gave the impossible.” Did God really command me that I should be like God, that there should be no difference between me and the Lord Creator, that I should surpass the angels in greatness, that I should have what the angels do not have? It is written about Him, as is characteristic of Him: because He committed no sin, and no lie was in His mouth (Isa. 53:9). But is this really common between me and Christ, to whom it was characteristic? – Otherwise, your opinion will be destroyed by itself. You claim that a person can be without sin if he wants; and waking up from delirium, you try in vain, to deceive ignorant minds, to add: not without the grace of God. If a person can already be without sin by himself, then what is the need for God’s grace? If he cannot do anything without God’s grace, what was the need to say that he can when he cannot? He can, he says, be without sin, he can be perfect, if he wants. – Which Christian does not want to be sinless, or who refuses perfection; and does possibility immediately follow if desire precedes? Since there is no one among Christians who would not want to be sinless, then everyone will be without sin, because everyone certainly wants to be sinless. And you will inevitably stop at the fact that you recognize the possibility of everyone being sinless, although you cannot indicate anyone or only a few who are sinless. God, he says, gave commandments that could be fulfilled. – Who denies this? But how this position should be understood is taught very clearly by the chosen vessel; because he says: since the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless, God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sacrifice for sin and condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3); and again: by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight (Rom. 3:20). And lest you think that this is said only about the law of Moses, and not about all the commandments, which are understood under the same name of law, the same apostle writes: for according to the inner man I delight in the law of God; but in my members I see another law, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:22–25). And in what sense he said this, he explains in another place. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For I don’t understand what I’m doing: because I don’t do what I want, but what I hate, I do. If I do what I do not want, then I agree with the law that it is good, and therefore it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that lives in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; because the desire for good is in me, but I don’t find it to do it. I don’t do the good that I want, but I do the evil that I don’t want. If I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that lives in me (Ibid., vv. 14–20). You will argue and say that we follow the teachings of the Manichaeans and those who wage war on the church for the opposition of natures, claiming that that nature is evil, which cannot be changed in any way. And do not impute this to me, but to the Apostle, who knew that one thing is God, another man, another is the weakness of the flesh, and another is spiritual strength. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other, so that you do not do what you would like (Gal. 5:17). You will never hear from me that the flesh is evil. But how we should talk about the weakness of the flesh, let us learn from the very one who wrote about this, teaching us. Ask him why he said: what I want, I don’t do, but what I don’t want, I do evil? What kind of necessity is this that fetters his will, what kind of force is this that prompts him to do what he hates, so that he is forced to do not what he wants, but what he hates and does not want? He answers you: man, why are you arguing with God? Will the product say to the person who made it: “Why did you make me this way?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, so that from the same mixture he can make one vessel for honorable use, and another for base (Rom. 9:20-21)? You can blame God even more strongly for what He said when Esau and Jacob were still in the womb: He loved Jacob, but hated Esau (Mal. 1:2). Accuse him of injustice also on the occasion that Achar the son of Charemiah stole something from the spoils of the Jerichoites, and so many thousands of people were killed because of his crime (Joshua 7). The sons of Eli sinned; But why was almost all the people destroyed and the ark captured? David sinned because he numbered the people; Why were so many thousands of people killed in the entire nation of Israel? And finally (which is what your friend Porfiry usually opposes to us), for what reason did God, the good and merciful, allow all nations from Adam to Moses and from Moses to the coming of Christ to perish in ignorance of the law and commandments of God? For Britain, the fertile province of tyrants, and the inhabitants of Scotland, and all the surrounded peoples to the very ocean did not know Moses and the prophets. Why was it necessary for Him (Christ) to come at the last time, and not before such countless people perished? Writing to the Romans on this issue, the blessed apostle very wisely declares that he does not know this and leaves it to the divine to know. Refuse, condescendingly, from knowing what you are asking about. Yield His power to God so that He does not need your protection. I am poor, waiting for your reproach, reading the always well-known saying: by grace you have been saved through faith (Eph. 2:8) and blessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered (Ps. 31:1) - I (to speak of my weakness) knew that I wanted many things that I should do, and yet I could not do them. For the strength of the spirit leads me to life, but the weakness of the flesh leads me to death. And I hear the admonition of the Lord: watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). It is in vain that you slander and fill the ears of the ignorant that we condemn free arbitrariness. He who condemns will be condemned. However, we do not differ from animals in that we were created with free will; but, as we said, the freest arbitrariness rests on the help of God and in every particular case requires its assistance. You don't think so; but you believe that once someone who has received free will has no need of God as an assistant. Free will serves as the basis for free intention; but man does not immediately act according to his free will, but with the help of the Lord, who does not need anyone’s help. You yourself, who divulge about the perfect and equal to divine truth in people, and at the same time recognize yourself as a sinner, answer me: do you want or don’t want to leave sin? If you want, then why don’t you do what you want in accordance with your intention? If you don’t want to, you prove that you are a despiser of God’s commandments. If he is a despiser, he is certainly a sinner. If you are a sinner, listen to what the Scripture says to you: But God says to the sinner: “Why do you preach My statutes and take My covenant in your mouth, but you yourself hate My instruction and throw My words away for yourself? (Ps. 49:16–17). If you don’t want to fulfill God’s words, then you throw them behind your back. And new apostle, you prescribe what the universe should and should not do. But it is not as you say: something else is on your mind. When you say that you are a sinner and that a person can be without sin if he wants: you want to make it clear that you are a holy person and have no sin; but out of humility you call yourself a sinner, because you consider it best to praise others and humiliate yourself. Who can understand your next proof? – You say this: “One thing is to be, another is to be able to be.” To be is not in our power; to be able to be, speaking in a general way, is in ours: why, even if someone was not, there could still be someone who would want to be.” I ask what kind of proof: maybe something that never happened? Can something happen that, according to your testimony, no one has done? To attribute this to someone about whom you do not know - will he, and to an unknown person, attribute something the existence of which you cannot prove either in the patriarchs, or in the prophets, or in the apostles? Pay attention to the simplicity, or rudeness and ignorance, as it seems to you, of church teaching. Speak as you believe: preach openly what you say to your disciples in private. You say that you have free will: why don’t you say freely what you feel? One is heard by the walls of your bedroom, the other is heard by the people from the public pulpit. The unlearned people are not able to understand the mysterious in your teaching and cannot accept solid food; Why is he content with baby milk?! You haven’t written yet, but you are already threatening me with the thunder of your writings, so that I, that is, frightened by them, do not dare to open my mouth; But don’t you notice that we are writing for this purpose in order to force you to answer and finally express openly what you, depending on the faces and place, either express or keep silent. I don’t want you to use the freedom to refuse what you write once. The victory of the church is certain the sooner you openly express how you feel. Because you will either answer the same as we say, and then you will find yourself not enemies, but friends; or if you express something contrary to our teaching, we will win by the very fact that all churches will know your thoughts. Putting your opinions out in the open is winning. Blasphemy appears at first glance. There is no need to refute what is blasphemous in its very statement. You threaten us with an answer that no one can avoid, except perhaps the one who does not write anything. How do you know what we intend to talk about, that you are preparing an answer? It may happen that we will speak your way, and in this case the witticisms over which you are racking your brains will be lost in vain. Eunomians, Arians, Macedonians, different in name, but unanimous in wickedness, do not make it difficult for us. They say what they think. This heresy alone makes one blush to say openly what one is not afraid to teach in secret. The secrets of the teachers are revealed by the fury of the students. What they hear inside the house, they preach from the rooftops; this is so that what they say, if the listeners like it, will be attributed to the glory of the teachers, and if it is not liked, it will be attributed to the student, not the teacher, as a mistake. That is why your heresy has grown, and you have led astray so many, especially those who cling to women and know that they cannot sin—that you always teach and always refuse; and you deserve to hear the well-known prophetic saying: glory from birth and birth pains... Give them, Lord: what will You give them? give them a womb that does not give birth and dry breasts (Hos. 9:11, 14). My heart is boiling, and I can’t be restrained in my expressions. The brevity of the letter does not allow too much expansion. In this essay, no one’s actual name is mentioned. We spoke against the teacher of perverse dogma. If someone gets angry or writes back, like a mouse, he will give himself away, risking getting deeper wounds in a real battle. Over the course of many years, from youth to the present age, I wrote various works, and always tried to tell my listeners what I publicly taught in church; and I did not pursue methods of philosophical proof, but tried to be content with apostolic simplicity, knowing what is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. 1:19), and the foolish things of God are wiser than men (1 Cor. 1:25). With this in mind, I invite my opponents to sort out the impartially abandoned pieces of paper, and if they discover anything flawed in my reasoning, let them bring it to light. Either these reasoners turn out to be good, and I will refute their slander, or worthy of blame, and I will admit the error, wanting to better correct the error in my way of thinking than to persist in it. So you, most excellent teacher, either defend what you said, and confirm the subtlety of your opinions by setting them out in an essay, so that you cannot refuse, whenever you want, what you said; or, if you have really fallen into error, as is typical of man, confess frankly and restore peace to those who are at odds with each other. Please note that the Savior’s robe was not torn only by soldiers. Do you see brothers arguing among themselves, and you laugh and rejoice that some call themselves by your name, others by Christ? Imitate Jonah and say: if for my sake this great storm has befallen you, take me and throw me into the sea (Jonah 1:12). He was cast into the depths in humiliation in order to rise in glory in the form of the Lord; and you exalt yourself with pride to the stars, so that Jesus would say about you: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18). Regarding the fact that in the Holy Scriptures many are called righteous, such as: Zechariah and Elizabeth, Job, Jehoshaphat, Josiah and others, whose names are included in the Holy Scriptures: although I will speak about this more fully (if the grace of God allows) in the promised essay, I consider it sufficient to say briefly the following in this letter. They are called righteous not because they have no vices at all, but because they have declared themselves to be mostly virtuous. And Zechariah is finally condemned to silence, and Job pauses during his speech, and Jehoshaphat and Josiah, although undoubtedly called righteous, did, as the story goes, something that was not pleasing to the Lord. One of them helped the wicked (1 Kings 22), and received a reproach from the prophet; the other, contrary to the commandment of the Lord from the mouth of Jeremiah, went out to meet the Egyptian king Necho, and was killed (2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 35): nevertheless, each of them is called righteous. Now is not the time to write more. Yes, you demanded from me a letter, and not a book, which should be dictated at leisure, and with the help of Christ should refute all their objections; of the latter we must be sure, having the testimony of the holy Scriptures, in which God speaks daily to the believers. And I ask and exhort through you this cathedral of the holy and famous house, because of one, many - three insignificant people, not to accept the scum or (to put it condescendingly) the ignominy of these heresies, so that where virtue and holiness were previously praised, the ugliness of devilish arrogance and vile society does not find a place. And let those who provide help to people of this kind know that they are gathering a crowd of heretics, multiplying the enemies of Christ and feeding His opponents; and in vain they try to convince with their tongue one thing when there is clear evidence that in their soul they feel something else. To the truly holy lord, and from the bottom of my heart, the Pope I respect, Augustine Jerome wishes health in Christ. I accepted the venerable husband, my brother, the son of your honor, Presbyter Orosius, according to his merits and then at your command. But the time was too difficult when it was better for me to remain silent than to speak; so our studies stopped and all that remained, according to Appius, was to practice canine eloquence 104 . Therefore, I could not respond at the appropriate time to your two books, full of learning and shining with all the colors of eloquence, which you dedicated to my name. I do not at all think that there is anything worthy of blame in them; but, according to the Apostle, everyone is rich in his own understanding: one this way, another another (1 Cor. 7:7). Everything that could be said, and everything that, with an exalted mind, could be gleaned from the holy scriptures - you set out and explained everything. But I ask your honor to allow me to express at least a little praise for your mind. Our envious people, and especially the heretics, when they found a difference of opinion between us, slandered us as if it stemmed from a long-standing enmity. Meanwhile, I am destined to love you, respect, honor, marvel at you and defend what you say as my own. So in the “Dialogue”, which I recently published, I, as was worthy, remembered your bliss. Let us try even more so that the most destructive heresy 105 is torn out of the Church - a heresy that is always hypocritical about repentance in order to be able to teach in the church; because if she spoke openly, she would disappear, being expelled from the church. Your holy and venerable daughters, Eustochia and Pavla (the younger), lead a life worthy of their family and your instructions and testify to your blessedness their special respect (as well as the entire brotherhood that labors with us in the service of the Lord Savior). Last year we sent their holy presbyter Firmus to Ravenna on business, and from there to Africa and Sicily. We think that it is already in the regions of Africa. I ask you to bow down from me to the saints close to you. If my letters, which I sent to the holy presbyter Firmus, reach you, do not bother to send them to him. May Christ the Lord preserve your health, Mr. truly holy and most blessed Pope, and your memory of me. We suffer in this region a great shortage of copyists for Latin books. Therefore, we could not carry out your orders, especially regarding the edition of the Seventy, which is dotted with stars and dashes. Because due to the dishonesty of one copyist, we missed a lot in our previous work. From your letters and from the stories of so many people, I learned that you are waging wars with the enemies of the Orthodox faith, that the winds are unfavorable and must inevitably contribute to the common death of the defenders of the century. Know, however, that in this region, without any human assistance, but solely by the judgment of Christ, Catiline 106 was expelled not only from the city, but also from Palestine and its borders; and we grieve very much that many accomplices of the conspiracy who live in Joppa remained with Lentulus. It seems to us better to change the place than the truth of faith, and to lose a pleasant building and residence, than to be polluted by the community of those in whose presence we should either yield, or fight every day not with the tongue, but with the sword. And how much we endured, and how menacingly the high hand of Christ armed itself against the enemy for us, I think you learned by rumor. So I ask you, finish the work you bravely started; Do not allow the church to have no defender in your presence. Everyone knows well (which you also know to the best of your ability) that one must fight not with bodily strength, but with love, which cannot be defeated. Holy brothers, living with our humility, show you our deepest respect. I think that the holy brother Deacon Alenty will tell your honor everything correctly. May Christ, our almighty Lord, preserve your health and memory of me, a truly holy lord and a brother worthy of all respect. I don’t know by what devilish delusion it happened that your work, and the efforts of the holy presbyter Innocent, and our desire in the present case, obviously, did not serve anything. But, thank God, I learned that amidst the very temptations of the devil you remained unharmed and retained the flame of faith. This is my joy when I hear that my children are fighting for Christ; and He whom we believe strengthens us in such zeal that we will willingly shed blood for His faith. I grieve that the noble family was ruined to the ground, and however, what was the reason for this, I could not find out. For the bearer of the letters himself said that he did not know this. Therefore, we can grieve for common friends and pray for the mercy of Christ, who alone is omnipotent and Lord, although we have partially brought upon ourselves God’s disfavor by patronizing the enemies of the Lord. You will do great if, leaving everything behind, you go to the east, especially to holy places. Everything is calm here; and although they have not thrown evil out of their hearts, they do not dare to open the lips of the wicked, but they are deaf like asps and stop their ears (Ps. 57:5). Greet the holy brothers. Our family, in relation to carnal goods, is completely ruined by the persecution of heretics, but by the grace of Christ is full of spiritual riches. It is better to chew dry bread than to lose faith. 111. Letter to Presbyter Cyprian Previously, I knew only from letters that you, the most zealous of the elders, Cyprian, belong to the number of those about whom it was said to Moses: choose elders whom you know to be elders (Num. 11:16), and inherited the name of a blessed man who learns in the law of God day and night (Ps. 1). Now we recognized each other by the external person; and after the greetings and sweet embraces with which mutual friendship is sealed, you immediately, in order to be convinced of the truth of what you have heard, ask me to explain one of the difficult psalms, which is inscribed among the Greeks and Latins as the eighty-ninth - to explain not in that most eloquent language that evokes the applause of the crowd, which deceives and caresses the ears of the ignorant, but in simple and precise church speech language - that is, so that our interpretation does not need another interpreter: because it usually happens to many who are too eloquent that their explanations are much more difficult to understand than the very thing that they are trying to explain. So I will begin a very difficult task, and supported by your holy prayers, I will remember the well-known verse: The Lord will give the word: there are a great multitude of heralds (Ps. 67:12). And firstly, you should know that this psalm in Hebrew has the following inscription: the prayer of Moses the man of God, and in the seventy: the prayer of Moses the man of God. What is the difference between the expressions “man” and “husband”, the Holy Scripture teaches us. Pentecostal says to Elijah: man of God, the king is calling you. This one answers him: if I am a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty (husbands) (2 Kings 1:9-10). And to Timothy the apostle writes: you, man of God, flee from these things (1 Tim. 6:11). Then the same apostle teaches about the man of God: I also want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God (1 Cor. 11:3). The husband is the one who should not cover his head: because he is the image and head of God and says daily in prayer: we all with open face, as in a mirror, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). And in another place: until all ... become a perfect man, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Eph. 4:13). So, both the name of a husband and the name of a person are fitting for a holy man, and one who saw God face to face and his soul lived; from whose lips we learned about the creation of the world, about the creation of what is visible, about the condition of man - we learned the truth of all past history; who left us not only five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but also eleven psalms, from the eighty-ninth, beginning with the words: Lord! You are our refuge, until the ninety-ninth, which is inscribed: psalm in confession. As for the inscription: psalm of David, which in many codes has the ninety-eighth psalm, it is not in the Hebrew. In Holy Scripture this is usually done so that all psalms that are not inscribed whose they are are considered to belong to those whose names are contained in the previous psalms. There are four psalms inscribed - prayer (oratio): the sixteenth, which is inscribed: the prayer of David, and begins: Hear, O Lord, my righteousness; the eighty-fifth: bow down, O Lord; eighty-nine, which is now under our hands: Lord, you were our refuge; and the one hundred and first, which has the inscription: the prayer of the sufferer, when he becomes discouraged and pours out his sorrow before the Lord. David and the beggar, who was rich, but became poor for our sake, this refers to Christ, who, according to Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9), sat on the lot of a donkey, poor and meek. Moses, through whom the Lord gave the law, from whose mouth we heard the words of God: Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness (Gen. 1:26), and it is immediately mentioned: And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; He created them male and female (v. 27), - Moses reveals in detail the state of man from his origin to death and resurrection - how he was created, how long he lives, what he does in the world, what pleasures he enjoys in life, for what he works, what he strives for. And since the one who wrote this is a man himself, he depicts the state of the entire human race under the guise of himself. There are, however, interpreters who relate this psalm or prayer to the people of Israel - to the (circumstance) how they offended God in the wilderness and died out and were not worthy to enter the Promised Land; and instead of the fathers, children entered, and hope to propitiate God again: which is fulfilled at the coming of Christ. Oratio (prayer), according to the grammarians, means all speech of speakers; They explain the etymology of this word as follows: oratio est oris ratio. But in Holy Scripture it is difficult to find the word oratio with such a meaning; it is applied here to prayers and petitions. The Jews say that one book of Psalms contains five books: from the first Psalm to the fortieth; from forty-one to seventy-one; from seventy-two to eighty-eighth; from the eighty-ninth, with which the fourth book begins and which we are now examining, to the one hundred and fifth (at the end of all of them there is a double amen, which seventy interpreters translate wake up, wake up); and then from one hundred and six to the end. This follows the example of the twelve prophets, who, although each published a special book, are part of one book. Our opinion, apparently, is contradicted only by what we said when we included the ninety-eighth among the eleven psalms of Moses, which says: exalt the Lord our God, and worship His footstool: holy is it! Moses and Aaron among the priests and Samuel among those who call on His name (Ps. 98:5–6); How can a psalm that names Samuel, about whom it is known that he lived a long time ago, belong to Moses? But resolving this issue is not difficult: Samuel’s name is named prophetically, because his merits are so great that Jeremiah compares him with Moses: if Moses and Samuel become (Jer. 15:1). This is exactly the same as the man of God says in Samaria: altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: Behold, a son will be born to the house of David, and his name will be Josiah (1 Kings 13:2). We also know that those who sin are those who consider all the psalms to be David’s, and not those with whose names they are inscribed. Why is this psalm considered to have been written by David on behalf of Moses, i.e. as if the legislator, with his sacred lips, depicted the errors and misfortunes of the human race, and then their hope for salvation. Lord, you have been our dwelling place forever and ever. Seventy: Lord, you have been our refuge forever and ever. Instead of habitation and refuge in Hebrew there is a word maon, which means habitation more than refuge. Presuming the news is a story about the sad and mourning of the human race, the compiler of the psalm begins with praises to God, so that everything that happens after an accident to a person seems to have happened not because of the cruelty of the Creator, but because of the fault of the created thing. Whoever is caught in bad weather seeks refuge under a rock or under a roof. Those who are pursued by the enemy hide behind the city walls. A tired traveler from the sun and dust seeks rest in the shade. If a fierce beast thirsts for the blood of a person, the latter tries and uses every possible effort to avoid the upcoming danger. So, from the first days of his existence, man uses God’s help; and just as he owes his creation to His grace, and exists and lives thanks to His mercy, so he cannot do anything good without the one who gave him free will in such a way that the latter does not deny his grace for each action in particular. This is so that the freedom of arbitrariness does not turn into an insult to the Creator, and does not puff up the pride of the one who was created free for this purpose, so that without God he would consider himself nothing. The expression: to generation and generation denotes all times, both before the law, and under the law, and under the grace of the Gospel. Why does the apostle say: for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, but by the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). And in all his messages, at the beginning of the greeting, there is not peace first, and then grace, but grace first, and then peace; this is because after we have been forgiven of our sins, we will inherit the peace of the Lord. Before the mountains were born and the earth and the universe came into being, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Seventy: before the mountains were established and the earth and the universe were formed, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Some distort the meaning of this passage by malicious placement of words, especially those who claim that souls existed before man was created, on the sixth day. This is how they read and share this passage: Lord, you were our refuge throughout generation and generation, before the mountains were established and the earth and the universe were formed; so i.e. that the expression from everlasting to everlasting you are God follows after. This is how they interpret it. If the Lord was a refuge for people before the mountains were established and the earth and the universe were formed, then souls existed in heaven before human bodies were formed. But we, as we have already mentioned, must read with this arrangement: before the mountains were established and the earth and the universe were formed, from eternity to eternity you are God: not so that God was our refuge before the creation of the world: because we did not yet exist, but so that God from eternity to eternity is always God. For where the Latin translator put: from century to century, and where in Hebrew it says olam, we will translate more precisely: “from eternity to eternity.” So exactly in the parables from the person of wisdom, which is Christ, it is said: The Lord had me as the beginning of His path, before His creatures, from time immemorial; I have been anointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before the existence of the earth. I was born when there were no deeps yet, when there were no springs abundant with water. I was born before the mountains were built up, before the hills (Prov. 8:22-25). Meanwhile, there is no word that would suggest creation, because in Hebrew there is no creation, which is called bara, but acquisition. For this is how it is written: Adonai canani bresith dercho, which in our language expresses the Lord acquiring me at the beginning of his ways. There is a big difference between acquisition and creation. The word acquisition expresses that the Son has always been in the Father and the Father in the Son. Creation means the beginning of the existence of someone who did not exist before. According to the laws of allegorical speech, the expression: before the mountains were established and the earth and the universe were formed, can mean that before sublime dogmas were established in our soul, and before the earth of our body was formed and strengthened by God and the universe was established or strengthened, which in Hebrew is called thebel, in Greek it is called more expressively ο ̓ ιχουμένη, which we can translate “inhabited” - above all, God has always been our refuge. The soul is inhabited, and not in desolation, when it is worthy to have God as a guest, according to the word of the Savior: I and the Father will come and make an abode with him (John 14:23). And the expression found in Hebrew and in all other translators: before the mountains were born and the earth came into being, obviously encourages us to see the meaning as allegorical. For the mountains and the earth were not born, nor, moreover, with birth pangs, but were created. This clearly indicates that both holy and exalted virtues are always born through the mercy of God. Turn a person to heartfelt contrition, and say, return, sons of Adam. Seventy: do not turn a person into humility, and you say: turn, sons of men. What is said in Hebrew means the following: “O God, You who created man and served him from the beginning as a refuge and abode, turn him to heartfelt contrition; You are the creator and formed him so that he became the prey of death, and, your vessel, was crushed in the last days of his life; to him, who is threatened by fate that upon being born he will die, and no matter how long he lives, will ultimately be destroyed, tell him daily through the prophets: turn, sons of Adam, who have offended God with your crime and have become mortals from immortals. For you did not want to listen to the commandment of Him who commanded: You shall eat from every tree of the garden, but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you eat from it you will die (Gen. 2:16-17).” Then, the translation of the seventy: do not turn a person into humility, and you say: turn, sons of men, has the following meaning: “I pray you for man, whom you are the creator in your image and likeness and have honored him with such a part that instead of a slave you called him son, I pray that you do not humiliate him forever in sin, so that the ancient sentence has no power over him: you are earth and you will go back to earth (Gen. 3:19). For You promised us repentance, saying: I do not want the death of the sinner, but that the sinner should turn from his way and live (Ezek. 33:11). You said through the mouth of all your saints: turn, or return, sons of men, to the mercy of the Father; He comes to meet those who come to Him, puts a seal on them, which they lost through their own fault, and clothes them in the ancient robe of incorruptibility.” For a thousand years are before your eyes like yesterday, which passed by or passed by, and like a watch by night, or like a watch in the night. “You, who always call us through the prophets to repentance, saying: return, sons of men, we ask you (as I said before), do not allow man to remain in constant humiliation. When You promise to give us salvation after a long time, we do not think that this will be a distant period. For, compared with eternity, the entire continuation of time is short. Before Your sight, a thousand years are like one day.” And he immediately stops himself. “I said badly: one day, and compared the length of a thousand years before you with the continuation of one day; I should rather say that the continuation of one watch is equal to the space of a thousand years. The night is divided into four watches, each of which counts three hours. So the Lord came to the floating apostles in the fourth watch (Matthew 14; Mark 6). So, just as one night watch quickly passes, especially for the guards tired of work, so the continuation of a thousand years seems to be the shortest time for You, who always is and will be, and was.” And when he adds: like yesterday, which passed by, we think he does the same as the apostle when he wrote to the Jews: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). So, on the basis of this place and the epistle, which is inscribed with the name of the Apostle Peter 108, I believe that one day is called a thousand ordinary years; and therefore, since the world was created in six days, it is likely that it will exist only for six thousand years, and then the number of weeks will come, when true Sabbath will come and the purity of circumcision will be restored. Why are the beatitudes promising eight rewards for good deeds? The Apostle Peter writes in this way: one thing should not be hidden from you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack in fulfilling his promise, as some count slackness (2 Pet. 3:8–9). When you strike them, they will be a dream, like grass passing by in the morning. In the morning it blossomed and went away, by evening it was worn out and dried up. Seventy: their years will be like nothing: the morning, like grass, will pass by, in the morning it will flourish and pass away, in the evening it will fall away, become hard and wither. In Hebrew, the meaning is this: it greatly contributes to our conversion and salvation that the whole life of mortals, like a dream, is so shortened by the soon-coming death: like flowers and hay, it dries up and disappears in almost the same period of time. When you strike, he says, them, i.e. people, the famous saying comes true: crazy! this night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? (Luke 12:20). A person's whole life is like a dream. Like grass, which turns green in the morning and opens its flowers, is a pleasure to the eyes of those who admire it, and soon then fades, loses its beauty and turns into hay to be worn out in this form: so all human beauty blooms in children, blooms in young men, is in strength in men of mature age, and suddenly, imperceptibly, the head turns grey, the face becomes covered with wrinkles, the skin, previously viscous, shrinks, and finally, what is called here in the evening, i.e. in old age, barely able to move; so that you cannot recognize the former person, but he almost changes into another. But why are we talking about the years from childhood to deep and decrepit old age? – It makes you sad and you lose your appetite when you imagine that a face that was previously more beautiful than a woman’s becomes so ugly that love is replaced by hatred. Isaiah also speaks about this fate of mortals: all flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flowers fade (Isa. 40:6–7). This passage should be explained in the same way by following the seventy. Everything that seems long in the world is short before You, O God. For the days and years by which human life is limited, if we compare them with eternity, will turn out to be insignificant. Like grass that grew in the morning, blossomed and began to dry out, and in the evening it became hard and disappeared: so is all human beauty. For under your wrath we perished, and under your wrath we were thrown into confusion. Seventy: for we were overcome by your anger, and we were troubled by your fury. Instead of what we said, they were embarrassed, Symmachus and Aquila translated - they hurried. This signifies the transience of human life. And the footnote: in your anger and in your rage, indicates the immutability of God’s sentence, to which we all humans are subject, i.e. famous - you are the earth and you will go back to the earth. It is beautifully said (not at the seventy, where it stands - they were embarrassed, but according to the Jewish original) they hurried; for although the human age seems long, it is short in comparison with eternity. The famous poet also testifies to this when he says: But meanwhile, irrevocable time flies. We lived long, Phoebus (if there is anything long for mortals). You have placed our iniquities before you, our negligence, in the light of your face. Seventy: Thou hast laid down our iniquities before thee, our age for the enlightenment of thy face. Where we, following the Hebrew and Symmachus, put our negligence, and seventy instead translated our century, in the Hebrew it stands alomenu; the fifth edition translates this as youth; Aquila is παροράσεις, and we can translate it into our language as “delusion” or “ignorance.” Why is it said in another place: do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorance (Ps. 24:7). And one more thing: who understands the Fall? And cleanse me from my secrets, and spare your servant from the strange things (Ps. 18:13–14). Those sins are foreign to us, which we often commit, although of our own free will, but out of ignorance and delusion: and yet, if the crime was unintentional, the delusion itself is blamed. But I wonder why the Seventy, instead of “youth, negligence” and “delusion” or “ignorance,” say “age”; Is it because the century and time of this life are spent in sins? But the addition: in enlightenment or in the light of your face has the following meaning. “No sin of ours is hidden from you; your eye beholds our very secrets, according to what is written: darkness will not be darkened from you (Ps. 139:12); and you test hearts and bellies, O righteous God (Ps. 7:10); and again: both darkness and light (Ps. 139:12).” For man sees the face, but God sees the heart. For all our days are past, and in your wrath we wasted our years as a speaker of speech. Seventy: for all our days have become impoverished, and by your anger they have disappeared. Our summers, when you think about them, are like a spider's web. The brevity of life, which is still subject to God’s judgment, and which in the previous verse he compared with a dream, saying: when you strike them, they will be a dream, in this time he compares it with the speech of those speaking; those. just as the speech that turns on the lips, when pronounced, is interrupted and ceases to exist, so our whole life passes and ceases. And this is under the wrath and wrath of God, to which we are justly subject; for he still lives for us, as we said above, the sentence of God. And that the wrath and wrath of God does not mean that God, being angry, takes revenge, but that He seems angry to those who suffer punishment - we have often spoken about this. For what happens with us as a result of spiritual unrest, in God happens to be a matter of justice. Instead of - the speech of the speaker, Seventy translated the web for the reflector. For just as the speaker’s speech flies away, so the web’s fabric works in vain. Why is it written about heretics in Isaiah: they weave a web (Is. 59:5). – It can catch small and light animals, like flies, mosquitoes, etc., but stronger ones tear it apart. Likewise, in the church, the frivolous and simple-minded are carried away by the errors of heretics, while they are unable to catch men who are firm in the truths of the faith. The days of our years are seventy years; but they will be many, eighty years; and multiplying their labor and illness. Seventy: The days of our years are the same as seventy years. As long as they are able, eighty years: and their labor and illness multiply. Instead of what we put in them and available in the Hebrew baem, Symmachus translated more expressively - ο ̓ λόχληροι, which, adhering to more meaning than letters, we can translate in words in general. So, to what extent we really live life and to what extent the life of mortals has its pleasantness is limited to the space of seventy years. “And if there are many,” and as Symmachus translated, “contrary to opinion,” then eighty years; and what is more, is carried out with illnesses and decrepitude, the companion of old age: moreover, the eyes darken, the previously very strong teeth hurt or fall out, as this is more fully described in the divine words of Ecclesiastes: difficult days have come and the years have not come, about which we say: “We have no pleasure in them!” When the sun and the light and the moon and the stars darkened, and no new clouds were found after the rain. On that day when those who guard the house will tremble and the men of strength will bow down; and the grinders will stop grinding, because there are few of them left; and those looking out the window will be darkened; and the doors to the street will be locked; when the sound of the millstone ceases, and a man rises at the crow of a rooster, and the singing of the daughters becomes silent; and the heights will be scary to them, and there will be horrors on the road; and the almond tree will blossom, and the grasshopper will grow heavy, and the caper will crumble. For a man departs to his eternal home, and mourners are ready to surround him in the street; - until the silver chain broke, and the golden band was torn, and the jug at the spring broke, and the wheel over the well collapsed. And the dust will return to the earth as it was; and the spirit will return to God, who gave it. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, everything is vanity! ( Eccl. 12:1–8 ). All this relates to the misfortunes of human life and especially old age, and what meaning it makes, we will show in its place 109. Some, interpreting this passage allegorically, attribute it to the sacrament of the Sabbath and circumcision: since first we rest in the law, and then we are established in the sacraments of the true gospel circumcision; They also remember the well-known expression: give the seventh part, and give the eighth part, and those seventy thousand and eighty thousand people who built the church under Solomon. But why is this in relation to the present passage, for which a simple and direct explanation is sufficient, designed not for the vainglorious display of learning by verbosity, but for the understanding of the reader? For we passed quickly and flew away. Seventy: for meekness will come upon us, and we will be punished. Instead, in Greek it is: παιδευζησόμεζα, an ambiguous word meaning both “correction” and “teaching and instruction.” For the Lord loves him, punishes (corrects), or teaches, and beats every son who accepts him. Symmachus translated this passage as follows: we fall suddenly and fly away; fifth edition as follows: for we pass quickly and are destroyed. This is the meaning. After seventy, and many eighty years, lived by a person, when the soul is separated from the body, we fly away like the wind or, as above, he compared a person with the greenness of grass and the beauty of flowers and with their drying in the evening; so now, instead of evening drying out, it indicates the falling off of flowers. And when it passes, he says, our life, unexpected death destroys us. And what the seventy say: for meekness will come upon us and we will be punished, has the following meaning. When, after seventy and eighty years, the meekness of the Lord comes and the day of death comes for us, we will be judged not according to merit, but with mercy; and what is considered punishment is only teaching and admonition. But I am not a little surprised why Seventy, Theodotion and the sixth edition decided to translate the Hebrew word ais - "meekness", when Aquila, Symmachus and the fifth edition translated it with the word "haste, suddenly and quickly." Who knows the strength of your anger, and after your fear, your indignation? Seventy: Who knows the power of your wrath, and destroys your wrath through your fear? The difference between the Hebrew and the Seventy is the division of the verses. The seventy word “discount” is added to the words “the fear and wrath of the Lord.” And in Hebrew it refers to the following verse, which will read like this: how our days are numbered, then show; and let us come with a wise heart. In short words we can put it this way. Who can know how long your anger will last, bringing fear to the human race, if you do not understand, who are God? So I pray you, show us the duration of our life, so that we can prepare ourselves with a wise heart for your judgment. And the words: who knows the strength or power of your anger, your indignation - indicates that it is difficult to know the secret and reason for the anger, fear and indignation of God. Why does the prophet plead with tears: Lord! Do not rebuke me in Your wrath, and do not punish me in Your anger (Ps. 6:2). For he does not punish (correct) when he kills and destroys, but when he corrects and admonishes. Why in Hosea (Hosea 4:14) does he tell the people of Judah, with whom he was very angry, that he will not be angry at all and will not visit his daughters-in-law when they commit fornication. And through Ezekiel he says to Jerusalem: I will no longer be angry with you, and My indignation will depart from you (Ezek. 16:42). The same thing is said in Chronicles, when Israel goes to battle against enemies with a peace-loving heart. Show us how our days are numbered, and we will come with a wise heart. Seventy: show your right hand, and teach your heart in wisdom. Aquila, Symmachus and the fifth edition translated it this way: So show us our days, that we may come with a wise heart. The mistake due to which the Seventy used the word “right hand” instead of days is obvious: because jamenu is a compound word meaning “our days.” If this word is used in the singular, then the last letter, which is called nun, means “right hand”; so it is in the name Beniamin, which is translated “son of the right hand.” If it has mem, it means “day” or “days”. The meaning of the place is as follows. Show us the number of our years and days that you have determined for us to live in this world, so that we prepare ourselves for your coming; Having despised the error of mortals, we will hasten to come to You, we will desire Your presence, and we will desire You with a wise heart. For nothing deceives the human race to such an extent as the fact that, due to the uncertainty of the continuation of its life, it promises itself a long possession of the blessings of this age. A well-known saying 110: no one considers himself so old and at such a decrepit age that he does not hope to live another year. The well-known saying also applies: remember your death, and you will never sin (Sir. 7:39). For whoever constantly remembers that he has to die despises the present and cares about the future. David prays about this in another place, saying: do not snatch me away in half my days before I go away and am no more (Ps. 101:25, 38:14). It is explained this way: do not let me die at a time when I still hope to live, so that I can atone for my sins through repentance. For if you do this, then caught in sins, I will cease to exist. In saying this, he does not deny the hope of resurrection: but he says that he cannot stand before him, before whom all who persist in sins are counted as nothing. Where we translated taught by the heart into wisdom (or rather, wise), others, misled by the ambiguity of the word, translated “chained.” For, if you read πεπεδημένους, it will mean “chained.” Turn, Lord, how long? And beg for your servants. Seventy were also transferred. Since we repent, and, knowing the brevity of our lives, we wish to come to you with a wise heart: then you, Lord, turn to us. Because of our sins, you retreated far and left us to walk according to our will and our thoughts. The insertion, how long, has the same meaning as it is used in the twentieth psalm: how long, O Lord, will you forget me completely? (Ps. 12:2). For whoever is in distress, and God’s help appears to him later, he prays with special zeal so that he will immediately feel the help of God, and God not of an angry judge, but of a merciful one. Fill us with your morning mercy, and we will praise and rejoice all our days. Seventy: we will be filled with your mercy in the morning, and we will rejoice and be glad all our days. What the Jews put in the future tense, Seventy almost everywhere have the habit of translating as if it had already been done and passed. And here the Jews do not say, as the Seventy want, that they were filled with the morning mercy of God and rejoiced; otherwise, if this had already happened, there would be no need to pray afterwards and say: look at your servants and at your deeds. But all they demand and pray for is to be rewarded with his morning mercy. And when they receive it, they will praise God and rejoice all the days of their lives. And it seems to me that with the words: fill us with your morning mercy, they are praying for the rewards of eternal life in the hope of resurrection. This is also indicated by the inscription of the twenty-first psalm, which, referring to the suffering of the Lord and His resurrection, is inscribed about the intercession of the morning. Rejoice us for the days with which you have depressed us, and for the summer, in which you have seen evil. Seventy: we rejoiced for the days, in nyazh you humbled us, but in nyazh we saw an evil summer. And Lazarus, having accepted evil in his life, rested in eternal joy in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16). Evil here punishes not what is opposite to good, but he uses it instead of grief and disaster. Sarah also oppressed her servant Hagar with such evil, and in the Gospel it is written about him: his wickedness prevails throughout the day (Matthew 6:34). And so, the more in this life we ​​suffer from persecution, poverty, the power of enemies, or illnesses: the more we inherit rewards in the future life, after the resurrection. He did a great job in not saying, “We endure evil,” but we see. For who is the man who will live and not see death? (Ps. 89:49). The latter should be attributed not so much to the destruction of the body as to the multitude of sins, according to what has been said: the soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:20). Let your work be revealed among your servants, and your glory on the sons of their sons. Seventy: Look upon thy servants and thy works, and instruct their sons. And so the Lord himself does his work in his servants. And the psalmist is not satisfied with his own salvation alone, which he demands, but asks for the glory of his sons, i.e. servants of God. By sons we must mean not so much sons by carnal origin, but disciples, about whom Paul also spoke: my children, for whom I am again in the throes of birth (Gal. 4:19). Why did the Apostle John, in accordance with the merits of his sons and the success in the affairs of each of them, write to the little ones, write to the young men, write to the fathers. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, and establish the work of our hands. Seventy: And bring the Lord our God's grace upon us, and restore the work of our hands upon us, and restore the work of our hands. Where are those who, vainglorious about the power of free will, believe in the grace of God that they have the power to do and not do good or evil? Blessed Moses demands this after the resurrection, saying: fill us with your morning mercy, and we will praise and rejoice all our days. He is not content with the fact that he will be resurrected and inherit the rewards of eternal life, but demands that the beauty of the Lord his God be on those who will be resurrected and shine in the souls and hearts of the saints; and so that he himself would manage the works of their hands and make these works indestructible - he himself would confirm what is good in the saints. Just as the humility of one who prays deserves rewards, so the pride of one who is bold rejects God’s help. To the Holy and Blessed Pope Augustine Jerome. I have always given decent honor to your blessedness and loved the Lord Savior who dwells in you. But now, if possible, I have added something more to the previous one and filled it up, so that I do not let even one hour pass without remembering you, who with the flame of faith firmly resisted the opposing winds. You would rather, as far as it depended on you, go out of Sodom alone than to remain there with the perishing. Your wisdom knows what I say. You are celebrating the victory of virtue in the world. The Orthodox reverence and are surprised to see in you the restorer of the ancient faith; and all heretics, which is a sign of great glory, curse. They persecute me with the same hatred: those who cannot be killed with a sword, they kill with malice. May the mercy of Christ the Lord keep you unharmed and remembering me, sir, most venerable and blessed pope. Many are lame on both legs and do not bow their broken neck, maintaining their addiction to the old error, although they do not have the same freedom to preach it. The holy brothers who live in our humility, and especially your holy and venerable daughters, most humbly greet you. I ask your honor to greet on my behalf your brothers, my lord Alipius and my lord Evodius. Captive Jerusalem remains in the power of Nebuchadnezzar, and does not want to listen to the admonitions of Jeremiah; and even more desires to go to Egypt to live in Tafnes and perish in eternal slavery. 114. Letter to Alypius and Augustine To the truly holy, deeply and rightfully venerable gentlemen, Bishops Alypius and Augustine, Jerome wishes health in Christ. The bearer of this letter, Holy Presbyter Innocent, did not take my letters to deliver to your honor last year, since he did not think of returning to Africa. But thank God, it so happened that you defeated our silence. Every occasion to write to your honor gives the greatest pleasure. God knows, if it were possible, he would use the wings of a dove to fly into your arms. This is always the case out of respect for your virtues; but now especially. Thanks to your cooperation and assistance, the Celestian heresy has been suppressed - a heresy that has infected the hearts of many to such an extent that, although they feel defeated and condemned, they hold the poison in their minds, and, in the only way they can, hate us, because of whom they consider themselves deprived of the freedom to teach heresy. As for your question: did I write an answer to the books of Annian, the pseudo-deacon of Tseledensky, who fed himself in every possible way in order to serve someone else’s blasphemy with useless words: then you know that the very books sent to me on scraps of paper by our holy brother Eusebius the presbyter, I received not so long ago, and then, then the illnesses that occurred, then the death of our holy and venerable daughter Eustochia caused me such grief that I decided to almost neglect them. For he gets stuck in the same mud, and except for the words that are sonorous and collected beggarly, he says nothing. However, we have done enough; because, trying to answer our letter, he made himself a revelation and declared his blasphemies before everyone. What he rejected before, as he said at the famous, regrettable Synod of Dispolitan, is confessed in this work; and it’s no longer a big thing to respond to the most absurd children’s fairy tales. If the Lord continues to live and there is a surplus of scribes, we will answer with small evening notes - we will answer not with the goal of defeating the already dead heresy; but to shame with our answer his ignorance and blasphemy. But it would be better if your holiness did this, so that we would not be told that we are praising our own against the heretic. The common holy children, Albina, Pinian and Melania, greet you most earnestly. I handed this letter from Saint Bethlehem to Saint Presbyter Innocent for delivery. Your niece Pavla most earnestly asks you not to forget her, and sincerely greets you. May the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ keep you healthy and remembering me, gentlemen, truly holy and deeply revered fathers. 115. Letter to Exuperantius 111 Of all that the friendship of the holy brother Quintilian brought me, the most important thing is that it brought you and I, who were not physically acquainted, closer together spiritually. And who would not love the one who, under a military cloak and outward appearance, does a prophetic work, and who defeats an external man, who promises something different, with an internal man, created in the image of the Creator? That’s why I first of all invite you to keep up the correspondence, and ask you to give me the opportunity to write to you more often; at least I will write more boldly then. For your wisdom, a brief hint is enough for you to remember the apostolic saying: are you united to your wife? don't look for a divorce. Are you left without a wife? do not seek a wife (1 Cor. 1:27), i.e. do not seek connection, which is the opposite of resolution. He who bears marital responsibilities is bound; he who is bound is a slave; and whoever is permitted is a free person. So, if you rejoice in the freedom of Christ, you do one thing, undertake another, and are placed almost on the roof: you should no longer leave the roof to take your tunic (Luke 17:31), - there is no need to look back and take your hand from the rasp once placed on it (Luke 9:62). But if you can, imitate Joseph and leave the Egyptian lady a cape in order to nakedly follow the Lord Savior, who says in the Gospel: whoever does not leave everything, and does not bear his cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27). Throw away every worldly bag; do not seek riches that are compared to the clumsiness of a camel (Matthew 19:24). Fly to the sky naked and light, so that the weight of gold does not drag the wings of your virtues to the ground. I say this not because I would like to give you, as a miser, instruction; but I mean that you continue your military service in order to fill the purse that the Lord commanded to empty. If those who own estates and riches are commanded to sell everything and give to the poor and thus follow the Savior: then your honor, if you are rich, must act as commanded; and if he is poor, he should not and does not care about acquiring what is to be distributed. Christ, truly, records everything in the parish, in accordance with his spiritual goodwill. There was no one poorer than the apostles; and no one gave up so much for the Lord. In the Gospel, the famous poor widow, who threw two small coins into the treasury, is preferred to all the rich: because she gave everything she had (Luke 21:2-4). So, do not try to collect what should be distributed, but distribute what you have collected. Then Christ recognizes in you his bravest warrior; The Father will gladly greet your return from a distant country, clothe you in the first garment, give you a ring, kill a well-fed calf for you (Luke 15), and allow you to soon sail by sea to us, together with the holy brother Quintilian. I pushed into the doors of friendship: if you open them, you will often have us as your guest. We read from Isaiah: the ignorant speaks foolish things (Is. 32:6). I hear that someone has reached such extravagance that he gives preference to deacons over elders, i.e. before the bishops. If the apostle clearly teaches that presbyters are the same as bishops, then can one endure with indifference when the minister of tables and widows is puffed up before those through whose prayer the body and blood of Christ is completed? Looking for proof? Hear the testimony: Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons (Phil. 1:1). Do you want another example? In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul speaks this way to the priests of one church: Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you bishops, to shepherd the church of the Lord and God, who have gained with His blood (Acts. 20:28). And lest anyone argue, claiming that there were many bishops in one church, listen to another testimony, which clearly states that a bishop and a presbyter are one and the same. For this reason I left you in Crete, so that you would complete what was unfinished and install elders in all the cities, as I ordered you: if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, has faithful children, not reproached with debauchery or disobedience. For the bishop must be blameless, as God’s steward (Titus 1:5–7). And to Timothy: Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the priesthood (Tim. 4:14). And Peter says in the first letter: elders (elders) among you I pray, as a fellow elder (elder) and a witness of the passion of Christ, who also wants to be revealed as a fellow servant: feed also among you the flock of God, visiting not out of need, but willingly and according to God (1 Pet. 5:1-2). In Greek this (visiting) is expressed more clearly - έπισχοπου ͂ ντες, i.e. "supervising"; from which the name of the bishop was borrowed. Doesn't the testimony of so many husbands seem enough to you? The trumpet of the gospel sounds, the son of thunder, whom Jesus loved above all, who poured out streams of teaching from the Perseus of the Savior: the elder (elder) to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth (2 John 1:1). And in another message: presbyter (elder) - to my beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth (3 John 1:1). And that subsequently one was chosen and made a leader over the rest - this was done to eliminate the schism, so that, by attracting everyone to himself, he would not tear apart the Church of Christ. For in Alexandria, from the time of the Evangelist Mark even to the bishops Hercules and Dionysius, the presbyters always chose one from among themselves, and, having raised him to the highest degree, called him a bishop (just as an army makes an emperor); and the deacons choose from among themselves one who is known to them as a zealous person, and is called an archdeacon. For what does a bishop do, except for ordination, that a presbyter would not do? One should not think that there is one church in Rome and another in the universe. And Gaul, and Britain, and Africa, and Persia, and the East, and India, and all the barbarian peoples worship Christ alone, and observe the rule of truth. Wherever the bishop is, whether in Rome, in Eugubius, or in Constantinople, or in Rhegium, Alexandria, or Tanis, everywhere he has the same dignity, the same priesthood. The power of wealth and the humility of poverty does not make a bishop either superior or inferior. All of them are equally successors of the apostles. You will say: how is it that in Rome a presbyter is ordained on the basis of the testimony of a deacon? But why are you showing me the custom of one city? Why, because of the smallness that gives rise to exaltation, weaken the power of church laws? Anything rare is desirable. Polium 112 is more valuable than pepper among the Indians. Deacons are made respectable by their small number; elders are humbled by their multitude. However, in the Roman Church, the elders sit and the deacons stand; although, with increasing corruption, I happened to see that in the absence of the bishop, deacons sit between the presbyters, and at feasts in private houses they bless the presbyters 113. Let those who do this learn that they are doing wrong, and let them listen to the apostles: it is indecent for us, having abandoned the word of God, to worry about tables (Acts 6:2). Let them know why deacons were installed. Let them read the Acts of the Apostles and remember their situation. Presbyter and bishop, these are names – one of age, the other of rank. The epistles to Titus and Timothy speak of the ordination of a bishop and a deacon (Titus 1:1; Tim. 3) about presbyters it is completely silent, because by bishop we also mean presbyter. Whoever is produced is produced from the lowest to the highest. So, let a deacon be ordained from among the elders, so that the elder is considered lower than the deacon, to which he must be elevated; and if a presbyter is ordained from among the deacons, then even if he enjoys lesser benefits, he must consider himself the highest in the priesthood. Let it also be known to us that the apostolic traditions are borrowed from the Old Testament; What Aaron, his sons and the Levites were in the churches, the bishops, elders and deacons in the church acquired for themselves. Samuel once wept over Saul, because the Lord repented that he had anointed him king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:35); and Paul to the Corinthians, hearing about the fornications among them, and such fornication as did not exist among the pagans, addressed a touching admonition, saying: lest again, when I come, my God should despise me among you, and lest I should mourn for many who sinned before and did not repent of the uncleanness, fornication and lasciviousness that they did (2 Cor. 12:21). If the prophet and the apostle, themselves untainted by anything, did this out of condescension of heart towards everyone: then shouldn’t I, a sinner myself, do this much more in relation to you, a sinner who does not want to get up after a fall, you do not even raise your eyes to heaven, but, having squandered the Father’s property, you find pleasure in pig faces (Luke 15:16), and, ascending the steep slope of pride, you quickly fall into the abyss? Instead of Christ, you want to have your womb as your god. Slave of lust, you are vainglorious about your flesh and shame, fattening yourself up like a fat sacrifice to death, and imitating the lives of those whose torment does not fear you; you do not know that the goodness of God calls you to repentance. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath (Rom. 2:5). Or is it because your heart hardens, like Pharaoh’s, because defeat does not follow immediately, and punishment is delayed for a long time? And there was a reprieve for him, and he suffered ten blows, as if not from God, who was angry, but from his father, who admonished him, until, rejecting all repentance, he followed into the desert after the people who had let go, and did not dare to enter the sea. The sea alone could teach him that he should be afraid of the one whom the very elements serve. And he said: I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go (Ex. 5:2). And you, imitating him, say: the prophetic vision that he saw will come true after many days, and he prophesies about distant times (Ezek. 12:27). Why does the same prophet say: Thus says the Lord God: none of My words will be delayed any more, but the word that I speak will come to pass (ibid., v. 28). Saint David speaks of the wicked and lawless (among whom you are not at all one of the last, but one of the first) that they enjoy the blessings of the age and say: how will God know? and does the Most High have knowledge? And behold, these wicked prosper in this age, multiplying wealth (Ps. 73:11-12): but having almost stumbled and slipped, he justifies himself by saying: was it not in vain that I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence (ibid., v. 13). Because above he said: I envied the fools, seeing the prosperity of the wicked, for they have no suffering until their death, and their strength is strong; They are not present at human work, and they are not subject to blows with other people. That is why pride surrounds them like a necklace, and insolence dresses them like an outfit; their eyes have rolled out of fat, thoughts are wandering in their hearts; They mock everyone, viciously spread slander, talk down to them; They raise their mouth to heaven, and their tongue walks across the earth (ibid., vv. 3-9). Don't you think that this whole psalm was written about you? You are healthy in body, and the new apostle of the Antichrist, having become famous in one city, moves to another. You don’t need money for expenses; you don’t tolerate strong blows, and with people who, like you, are not like dumb animals, you don’t suffer any need. That is why you are arrogant with pride; your clothes are made with luxury, and like fat and some fat from lard, spewing out deadly words, you do not care that you have to die, and, having satisfied your lust, you never know the remorse of repentance. You have passed into the passion of your heart, and instead of seeing only yourself as erring, you feignedly inflict abominations on the servants of God, not knowing that you are telling lies on high and setting your mouth on heaven. It is not surprising that you blaspheme some of God’s servants, when your fathers called the very Head of the clan Beelzebub. A student is not greater than a teacher, and a slave is not greater than his master. If your fathers did this to the green tree, why will you not do this to the dry tree (Luke 23:31)? Malachi says something similar through your mouth, the people who have wavered in their faith: they said: “Serving God is in vain, and what good is it that we kept His statutes and walked in sad clothes before the face of the Lord of hosts?” And now we consider the arrogant happy: those who practice iniquity are better off, and although they tempt God, they remain unharmed (Mal. 3:14–15). Then the Lord threatens them with the day of judgment, and, foreshadowing long ago what will happen between the righteous and the unrighteous, he says: and then again you will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not serve Him (ibid., v. 18). Perhaps all this will seem funny to you, who enjoys comedies, lyrical writers and mimes of Lentulus; although I do not allow that, given the extreme dullness of your heart, it would be incomprehensible to you. You will despise the sayings of the prophets; but Amos will answer you: for three and four wickednesses will I not turn away from him, says the Lord (Amos 1:3)? Since Damascus, Gaza, Tire, Idumea, the Ammonites and Moabites, likewise the Jews and Israel often did not want to listen to the prophecies of God directed to them in order to arouse them to repentance; then the Lord gives the most just reasons for his anger, which he has to burst out, saying: for three and four wickednesses, will I not turn away from him? It is wicked, he says, to think evil: I condescended. It is more indecent to accept the intention to carry out the evil planned; and this I graciously forgave out of my mercy. Must sin really be fulfilled in practice, and my mercy must be trampled upon with pride? However, even after the sin has been committed, desiring the sinner’s repentance rather than his death, for it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Lk. 5:31), I stretch out my hand to the fallen and exhort him who is splashed with his own blood to wash himself with his own tears. But if he does not want to repent, and after the ship is broken he does not hold on to the board, which alone can save him: then I am forced to say: after three and four crimes, will I not turn away from him, says the Lord? He considers disgust a punishment: since the sinner is then left to his own will. That is why He exacts the sins of the fathers in the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5), when He does not want to punish sinners immediately, but by forgiving the first, condemns the last. Otherwise, if He immediately appeared as the avenger of iniquities, the church would not have many others, and in any case, the Apostle Paul. The prophet Ezekiel, whom we mentioned above, narrating the word of God that came to him, says: open your mouth and eat what I will give you. And I saw, and behold, a hand was stretched out towards me, and behold, in it was a scroll of books. And He unfolded it before me, and behold, the scroll was written inside and outside, and it was written on it: “weeping, and song, and woe” (Ezek. 2:8-10). The first thing that is written concerns you, if, however, you want to repent after sin. The second refers to the saints who are invited to sing praises to God. Third, to those like you, who in despair have given themselves over to uncleanness, fornication, the belly, and what is below the belly, who think that everything ends in death, that after death there is nothing, and say: the storm that we carry is no longer passing by, it will not come upon us (Isa. 28:15). The book that the prophet devours is the entire series of Scriptures. They contain lamentation for the repentant, and song for the righteous, and curses for the desperate. Nothing is more disgusting to God than an unrepentant heart. There is one crime that cannot be forgiven. If someone who has stopped sinning after sin is forgiven, and he inclines the judge to show mercy who asks; and everyone unrepentant arouses anger in the judge: then only the crime of despair cannot be healed. And that God, who daily calls sinners to repentance, is turned from merciful into strict and formidable by those who remain stubborn, listen to the words of Isaiah, who says: And the Lord, the Lord of hosts, calls you on this day to weep and lament, and to cut off your hair and gird yourself with sackcloth. But behold, fun and joy! They kill oxen and slaughter sheep; They eat meat and drink wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” (Isa. 22:12–13). After these outcries and this insolence of a depraved mind, Scripture notes: And the Lord of hosts revealed in my ears: This wickedness will not be forgiven you until you die (ibid., v. 14). If they died to sin, sin would then be left to them. But as long as they live in sin, it will not be abandoned. I beg you, have mercy on your soul. Believe, there will be God's judgment. Remember which bishop ordained you as a deacon. It is not surprising that he, although a holy man, could have made a mistake in choosing a person when God repented that he had anointed Saul as king (1 Sam. 15:35), and among the twelve apostles Judas turned out to be a traitor. They say that among the people of your rank, Nicholas of Antioch was once the culprit of all sorts of impurities and the Nicolaitan heresy. At the present time I do not pretend that you, as they say, have corrupted many girls; that the noble marriages you desecrated have been torn apart by a public court; that you ran, desecrated and depraved, through brothels. No matter how difficult all this is in itself, it is still easy in comparison with what I intend to say. Asking how great is the crime, when fornication and adultery (in comparison) are small? Most unfortunate of mortals, you entered that cave in which the Son of God was born, and the truth rose from the earth, and the earth gave its fruit, to make an agreement about fornication! And aren’t you afraid that the Baby will cry in the manger, that the Virgin parent will see you, that the Mother of God will look after you? The angels exclaim, the shepherds flow, the star shines above, the wise men bow down, Herod is horrified, Jerusalem is in turmoil, and you sneak into the Virgin’s bed to seduce a virgin? I’m afraid, poor thing, I’m horrified in body and soul, intending to expose your deed before your eyes. During the night vigil, the whole church loudly chanted the name of the Lord Christ, and in the praises of God, which she sang in different languages, one spirit obeyed. And you, at the entrance of what was once a manger, and now the altar of the Lord, throw up love letters, which she, poor thing, kneeling down as if to pray, picked up and read; Then you stood with the face of singers and talked to her with shameless expressions. O lewdness! I am unable to continue further. Moans break out before words, and anger and sorrow seizes the breath in the very larynx. Where is this sea of ​​Cicero's eloquence? where is the swift Demosthenian river? Both of you are now completely mute, and your tongue is numb. Something was revealed that no amount of eloquence could express. An act has been revealed that a mina cannot depict, a jester cannot ridicule, or a comedian cannot retell. There is a custom in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, according to which both the maiden and the widow, who has dedicated herself to God and trampled upon all the pleasures of the world, which she has abandoned, allow the mothers of the monasteries to cut their hair, although later they want not with their heads uncovered, contrary to the will of the Apostle, but with their heads tied and covered, as before. And no one knows this except those who have their hair circumcised, and those whose hair is circumcised; just because it happens to everyone, almost everyone knows it. This custom turned into a natural necessity for two reasons: partly because they do not go to the bathhouse, partly because they do not use oil either for their hair or for food. Small animals, which usually live between the skin and hair, and thickened dirt would otherwise be a great embarrassment for them. Let's see what you were doing in the meantime, good husband? In one venerable cave, as if as some guarantee for a future marriage, you take the hair and scarves of the unfortunate woman, and in return give her a ring, a marriage pledge, assuring her with an oath that you will never love like that again. You then run to the place of the shepherds, and while an angelic song is heard from above, you continue to assure her of the same thing. I’m not saying, in addition to the fact that you went as far as kissing, that you embraced her. Everything can be believed about you; but out of reverence for the cave and the place, I will allow myself to believe only that you fell by will and thought. Poor thing, your eyes didn’t darken, your tongue didn’t become numb, your arms didn’t drop, your chest didn’t crack, your legs didn’t give way when you joined the maiden? After the Basilica of the Apostle Peter, in which it was consecrated with the veil of Christ; after the solemn vows to live in a monastery, repeated by her in the church of the cross, the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, do you dare to take hair with the promise of sleeping with you at night - the hair that she reaped for Christ in the cave? Then from evening until morning you sit under her window, and since, due to the height, you were unable to cling to each other, then by means of a string you either receive from her or give her something. And what was the supervision of the lady 114: only in the church did you see the maiden, and no matter how great the desire of each of you was, you had the opportunity to talk only at night through the window. The sun rose for you, as I later learned, in captivity. Without blood on your face, exhausted, pale, in order to avoid any suspicion, you, like a deacon, read the Gospel of Christ. And we explained the pallor by fasting, and were surprised at the absence of blood in the face, believing this to be a consequence of unusual and unusual vigils for you. You had already prepared the stairs along which you wanted to lower the poor thing; the path had already been laid out, the ship had been arranged, the day had been agreed upon, flight had been deceived in the soul... And now that same angel who was the doorkeeper at Mary’s chamber, the guardian of the Lord’s cradle and the servant (bearer) of Christ the child, in whose sight you did all this, he himself betrayed you. Oh my miserable eyes! O day, most worthy of all curses, on which with a confused mind I read your letters, which I still have! What shamelessness there is, what flattery, what delight over the agreed-upon fornication! Could the deacon, I won’t say say, but also know this? Where did you, unfortunate one, learn this, you who boast that you were brought up in the church? Have you, as you swear in the same letters, never been chaste, never been a deacon? If you wanted to refuse, your hand would convict you of it; the very accents on the superscripts cry out about that. However, take advantage of your villainy: I cannot make extracts for you from what you wrote. So you lie, crouched at my knees and, speaking in your own words, beg for gemin 115 blood, and, oh unfortunate one, despising the judgment of God, you fear only me as an avenger! I confess, I forgave, for what else could I, a Christian, do to you? I urged you to repent, throwing yourself into sackcloth and ashes, to seek solitude, to live in a monastery, to implore God’s mercy with incessant tears. And you, on whom I placed good hopes, you, inflamed by the excitement of the otter, turned into a bow aimed at me, and throw arrows of slander at me. In truth, I have become your enemy. I do not grieve over slander; for who does not know that your lips praise only debauchery? I don’t cry: because you don’t cry yourself; because you do not feel that you will die, but, like a gladiator preparing to fight at a funeral, you decorate yourself for your own burial. You dress in fabric, burden your fingers with rings, brush your teeth with powder, comb your sparse hair on your translucent bald head; the ox's neck, swollen with fat, does not bend even after the blows it received for debauchery. Moreover, you issue incense, change baths, and wage war on growing hair; ironed and polished as a lover, you walk through the squares and streets. You do not blush because your appearance has become the appearance of a harlot. Turn, unfortunate one, to the Lord, so that the Lord will turn to you. Repent, so that He will also repent of all those disasters that he said he would send to you. Why, having neglected your own wound, do you intensify to dishonor others? Why are you tearing me, who gives you good and sincere advice, into pieces like a madman? Even if I am the depraved person you make me out to be in front of everyone, at least bring repentance with me; Even if I am a villain, as you portray, imitate the tears of a villain. Are my sins your virtues? Or, in your misfortunes, are you consoled by the fact that there are many like you? Let the tears flow little by little from your eyes between the fabrics and silk in which you seem so shiny and beautiful; understand that you are naked, tormented, dirty, poor. Repentance is never too late. Even though you left Jerusalem and were wounded on the way, the Samaritan, having laid you on his cattle, will carry you from there to an inn for healing. Even if you lie dead in the tomb, even then the Lord will raise you up even if you stink. Imitate at least those blind men for whose sake the Savior, leaving His house and His inheritance, came to Jericho. Of those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, light shone to those who, recognizing the Lord passing by, began to cry out, saying: Son of David, have mercy on us. You too can receive your sight if you cry out, if at His call you throw off your dirty clothes. Whenever you return to breathe, then you will be saved and understand where you have been (Isaiah 30:15). He will only touch your sores, he will only touch the traces of the former pupils in your eyes. Even though you were born from this womb, and your mother conceived you in iniquity, He will sprinkle you with hyssop and cleanse you; He will wash you, and you will be whiter than snow. Why do you crouch and cling to the ground and lie covered in dirt? The one whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, having received healing from the Savior, looked straight up to heaven. Consider what was said to Cain as said to you: you have sinned, calm down (Gen. 4:13) 116. Why do you continue to run away from the face of God and live in the land of Naid? Why do you rush about in the waves of the sea, and do not set your foot on a stone? Beware that Phinehas does not pierce you with the sword during your fornication with the Midianite woman (Num. 25). Why, having defiled the virgin Tamar, whose brother and half-blood you are, turned to Absalom, and want to kill the one who mourns your indignation and death? The blood of Naboth cries out against you; and the vineyard of Israel, i.e. the seed of God, which you turned into a garden of lusts and a garden of sensuality (1 Kings 21), demands your just vengeance. Elijah is sent to you, announcing torment and destruction. Humble yourself, quickly put on sackcloth; and God can say about you: Do you see how Ahab was afraid before Me? Because he humbled himself before Me, I will not bring trouble in his days (ibid., v. 29). But maybe you flatter yourself that you were ordained a bishop? I have already said above that neither a son is punished for his father, nor a father for his son. The soul that sins will die (Ezek. 18:4). And Samuel had such sons who forgot the fear of God and gave themselves over to greed and untruths. And the priest Eli himself was a holy man, but he had sons who, as we read in the Hebrew books, committed adultery with women in the tabernacle of God and, like you, shamelessly turned the ministry of God to their own advantage (1 Samuel 2). From which the tabernacle itself was overthrown; and the ark, for the vices of the priests of God, was captured; and Eli also offended God by being too lenient towards his sons. The righteousness of your bishop can help you just as little. You can even be afraid that, having fallen from his seat, he will not die because of you from an incurable bruise of the neck (ο ̓ πιο ϧ οτόνψ). If Uzzah the Levite, whose duty it was to carry the ark of the covenant, was struck down because he wanted to support it when it seemed to be falling, what are you waiting for, you who tried to overturn the standing ark of the Lord? The more worthy of approval the bishop who ordained you is, the more deserving of disgust you are, who deceived such a person. We are usually the last to learn the bad things about our family, and we do not know about the vices of children and spouses when our neighbors sing about them. All of Spain knew you. Everyone was upset that you stood before the altar of Christ. And you were not so skilled as to wisely hide your vices. You were so burning with passion, to such an extent lust carried you away in one case or another into fornication and voluptuousness, that you presented the satisfaction of lust as some kind of triumph, as if some sign of your vicious victory. Finally, the flame of debauchery engulfed you while you were under the swords of a barbarian and under the supervision of a barbarian husband and a powerful husband. You were not afraid to commit adultery in a house in which the offended husband could avenge himself without trial. You take her into gardens, lure you into country houses: you act so freely and brazenly, as if in the absence of your husband you had her as your wife, and were not committing adultery with her. When she fell into some trap, you managed to escape. Secretly you make your way to Rome, hide among the Samnite robbers, and at the first news of your husband, who, as if a new Hannibal has come to you from the Alps, you seek safety on the ship. You fled with such haste that you thought the storm was safer than the ground. Somehow you make your way to Syria, from there you want to go to Jerusalem, and you promise to serve the Lord. Who would not accept someone who promised to be a monk; especially - without knowing your tragedies and reading letters of recommendation from your bishop to other priests? And you, unfortunate one, were transformed into an angel of light, and the servant of Satan took on the appearance of a servant of truth. Under your sheep's clothing you hid the wolf within you, and after committing adultery in relation to man, you desired to be an adulterer in relation to Christ. I told this in order to depict in a small picture the whole scene of your actions, and to present to your eyes your famous deeds, so that you do not turn the mercy and excessive condescension of the Lord into a reason for crimes, again crucifying and putting to shame the Son of God in yourself, and without reading the following: the earth that drinks the rain that falls on it many times and produces grain useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; but the thorns and thistles that produce are worthless and are close to a curse, the end of which is burning (Heb. 6:7-8). The Greek letter U was a symbol of life among the Pythagoreans. Branching out, it represented for them the path of virtue on one side, and vice on the other. The Sers are one of the peoples who inhabited India. Worshipers of Isis and Cybele abstained from eating bread; for this they rewarded themselves with abundant consumption of meat food. Of course, the monastery built by Paul in Bethlehem near the cave of the birth of Christ the Savior. Jerome alludes to the constantly increasing number of virgins in the monasteries founded by his grandmother (Paul). Regarding this Paul, see the following letter. Under the first sentence we mean God's blessing: grow and multiply (Gen. 1:28)... Under the gospel law are the famous words of the Savior about virginity (Matthew 19). As you can see, in times of blessedness. Jerome in Saperta was also shown a small house, in the form of a turret, in which the prophet Elijah once lived and in the upper part of which he resurrected the son of the widow of Sareth. Both the house of Cornelius the centurion and the house in which the Apostle Philip lived with his four prophetess daughters (Acts chapters 10 and 21), apparently, were also shown in the time of Jerome. The Apostle Paul, as you know, came from the tribe of Benjamin. The crime of the city of Gabai and its fate are described in chapters 19 and 20 of the book of Judges. A house intended for the residence of a praetor. Nav. Ch. 14, 15 v. From the Hebrew original it reads like this: he is Adam, the oldest among the Enikimites. That is, Jews and pagans, pre-depicted, according to Jerome, as two blind men who had received their sight. Moderation is a virtue, excess is a vice. Horace od. ultim. lib 3.carm,. By contrast, that is, he is called Vigilantius - awake, instead of Dormitantius - sleeping, as he should be called. Cenerarii, from cinis - ash, ash and powder, which was used to remove heads. Application to the words of Psalm 109: from the stream in the way he drinks: for this reason he will lift up his head. So reads Jerome; in Slavic it is somewhat different. Menaeus means heretic. This news of Jerome is also confirmed by Jewish evidence, from which it is clear that during the time of Gamaliel the Elder, this heresy intensified so much that there was even a special formula for cursing these heretics. Falarika is a spear of the largest size. The names of two bad critics of Cicero's time. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria (385 - 412), as is known, was one of the most powerful enemies of St. John Chrysostom. Having quarreled with John over the case of the Origenists, towards whom Chrysostom showed more leniency, having accepted some of them into the communion of the Church of Constantinople, Theophilus was not only the main accuser of Chrysostom at the council of 403 and the culprit of his deposition and exile, but also wrote against him in Greek, as Thaquis says, “an ugly in its curses and terrible in its accusations,” a book from which has been preserved only excerpts quoted from Thaquid. In order to justify the condemnation of Chrysostom and to clarify the matter for Western Christians, among whom Chrysostom also enjoyed high authority, Theophilus, in a special letter, asked Jerome to translate his book from Greek into Latin. The latter fulfilled Theophilus’ request and translated his book against Chrysostom; but it is impossible not to notice that Jerome, who has a close relationship with Theophilus and respected him, does not in any way express his sympathy for his case against Chrysostom. In his letter, he inserts only general and all too common praise for the eloquence and usefulness of the book and - what is especially important - to his translation in the form of a preface he adds in the Latin translation a letter from Theophilus, in which he asked him to translate his book “so that everyone who reads, says Jerome, would know that I undertook this work not out of impudence or vanity, but according to the orders of your beatitude.” It is clear that, while carrying out these “orders,” Jerome did not want to express sympathy with Theophilus against Chrysostom with his translation. From Theophilus’ letter to Jerome, in which he asked him to translate the book, only the first few lines have survived; This letter serves as a response to this letter from Theophilus. This letter serves as a kind of addition to the previous letter to Augustine (letter 90). In the indicated place, under the name of the friend who first attacked him with a sword, Jerome means the same critic “Cornelius and Asinius Pollio of that time” - whom he mentions on the issue of the word pumpkin at the end of the previous letter to Augustine. That is, a writer in old age. In the book, Jerome, the prototype of Johnian, calls this philosopher Crates of Thebes. Vera was the sister of Julian, to whom this letter was written. Push, entrainment, carry away. Golden Sand River in Libya. Jerome reads: it will pour out - effundetur. We retain the reading and punctuation of Jerome - significantly disagreeing with the Slavic translation. This testimony of Jerome is also confirmed by Gregory of Nyssa about the specimens of his time: μέΖρι τόυ, έϕοβούντο ϒ αρ, έΖει τό τελος. Grat 2, de Resurrect. But all the Greek and Latin copies that have reached us, and even the most ancient translations, contain this continuation of the 16th chapter of St. Mark from 9 to 20 verses. That is, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and the elements - the Sun and the Moon, which ancient writers called the elements. Known among the apocrypha is the Gospel of the Nazarenes. A ν ϧ υποϕοράν - an objection or bewilderment that arises naturally in the mind of the listener. Apodemius from Greek - άπόδηιος, traveler, wanderer. Bethlehem in Hebrew is the house of bread. According to the testimony of Epiphanius (Haeres. 64, cap. 4 et 33), Origen taught this, claiming that the souls of people were formerly angels and can turn into angels. The same views were held by the Origenists contemporary to Jerome. Messengers in Greek - ά ϒϒ έλους. According to the reading of Jerome: nemo vos superet, voleus in humilitate mentis et religione angelorum – etc. To explain this, a passage from Jerome’s letter to Paul can serve, where he says: “there are three general sciences by which knowledge of things is achieved: the Greeks called them ethics, physics and theory, and we can call them sciences: moral, natural and speculative (moralem, naturalem et inspectivam).” Quӕ quodam vaticinie foturorum, ac Dei praesidentis auxilio, nomen accepit. The meaning of the name Agerukhia (α ̓ϒ ερωχία - strength of spirit, courage), which she received as if by prediction of her future spiritual properties, is indicated. At the same time, referring the last words - nomen accepit - to both previous sentences, Jerome also expresses the idea that Ageruchia, with the help of God, acquired fame, celebrity (nomen) for her virtues. It refers to the finger gesture used in ancient times, in which the index finger was hugged around the thumb to indicate thirty. Rebekah's assistance in anticipating Jacob's birthright is indicated. Jerome speaks in the words of last 2. to Sol. 2, 7, on the basis of which he, like some other fathers and teachers of the church, recognized that after the destruction of the Roman Empire the Antichrist would appear. Virgil's expression is used: extremique hominun Morini. Aeneid. 1st. Quis satis est, si Roma parum est. See above letter 21, vol. 1, p. 100. See above letter 51, vol. 2, p. 88. Above letter 74, vol. 2, p. 333. The sphere of the planets is solar. Caeranionias superni cultus plenitudinem non habere, that is, they do not have unconditional perfection. Auxumi is a city in Abyssinia, which in ancient times was the capital of this country. Jerome refers to the so-called Agapetes, who, under the guise of pious love and pious relations, entered into criminal relationships with women. St. also mentions them. Gregory the Theologian (writing to Eustochius) and some other writers of the 4th and 5th centuries. Great sins, in relation to Ps. 18, 14, Jerome names here, as in other places, an evil intention carried out in practice. Of course, Ovid and Cicero, from whom the whole phrase is borrowed. Jerome reads: hospitalitatem persequentes, that is, pursuing. In ancient times, in many churches, monks or clergy sang not in chorus, but separately, each in turn, while everyone else listened - which is mainly known about the singing of psalms. That is, as slowly and with the same importance as a triumphal bier, on which are images of gods, war trophies, etc. The expression is borrowed from Cicero de Offic. c. 36. That is, market overseers. Immaculati in via - undefiled on the way. Utinam ne in nemore Pelio. In fragments of Ennius, the nurse, expressing regret that the Argonauts landed on the shores of Colchis and the Peleian forest from which the ship Argo was made, and that this circumstance was the reason for the Argonauts’ campaign, says: Utinam ne in Pelio securibus Caesa cecidisset abiegna ad terram tiabes Neve inde navis inchoandae exordium Cepisset, quae nunc nominator nomine Argo, que vectei Aggivei delectei virel, etc. The first words of these verses became part of a proverb, which was used when one wanted to express regret about the cause of some unfavorable circumstance. Jerome uses this proverb here, probably on behalf of those who despised monasticism. Turritae - this is how Jerome translates the name of Magdalene. Jerome's private opinion, based not on the words of John. 18, 15. Other interpreters, who admit that the words: “this disciple was known to the high priest,” are attributed by the Evangelist John to himself, explain the reason for this acquaintance not by the nobility of John’s family, but either by the craft of a fisherman, by which he could be known to the high priest, or by his wisdom in the law. Of course, Jerome’s trip to Rome in 382 on the matter of the Church of Antioch. Lucian mentions a spectacle of this kind in Rome. That is, blessed. With this word, synonymous with μαχάριος, Jerome alludes to Macarius, a student of Rufinus. Anastasius was Bishop of Rome for just over three years. The head of the world was truncated, i.e. Rome was taken by the Goths under his successor Innocent. That is, the society of pious women mentioned in this letter. Jerome means some former friend, who later separated from him, like Barnabas from Paul. They think that it refers either to John of Jerusalem or to Rufinus, to whom Jerome in his apology attributes the threat to kill him: minaris interitum, nisi tacuero, says Jerome. The siege of Rome by the Gothic king Alaric in 409 is described. After the first siege, the Romans made peace with the Goths, paid a huge indemnity, but Alaric besieged Rome again when the terms of this peace were rejected by Honorius. A Palestinian city on the Egyptian border or an Egyptian city on the Palestinian border. The numbers of masons and porters in Jerome's translation are presented in reverse compared to our translation (see 1 Kings 5:15). Parum tibi. In Slavic it reads: tell you to eat Heraclian, governor of Africa. That is, the Gothic king Alaric. That is, essays, books. That is, virgin, immaculate. Tertullian against Hermogenes ch. 9. According to Pliny (lib. 2, cap. 15), the Greeks called star circles apses. According to Tertullian, Plato taught that wise souls soar in the heights of the ether (lib. de anim. cap. 54). Anathematized by two councils, Priscilian was condemned to death by Emperor Maximus in 385. That is, to Melania. Melania – μελανία, from Greek – blackness. Jovian agreed with the Pelagians in the doctrine of dispassion. His second position, which Jerome speaks of, was that “those who have received baptism are not subject to the slander of the demon.” That is, Melania (about which above). Galla is an ink nut. That is, laugh while sticking out your tongue. An allusion to the satire of Perseus, in which this is also indicated among the three types of ridicule (Pers. sat. 1). Jerome will apply to Pelagius (obviously) the story of Catiline, who, having fled from Rome at night, left Lentulus in the city to support the conspirators in their intentions. Literally - born with birth pangs, parturiretur. Of course, the second letter of the Apostle Peter, which in the first centuries was not recognized by all churches as canonical. Jerome himself says about it in the catalog: “many reject the second epistle for its dissimilarity with the first in syllable.” Based on the following passage from this message, some of the ancients concluded that the present peace would last only six thousand years. See eg. Irenea book 5, ch. 28; Origen against Celsius book. 2; Lactation book. 7, ch. 14; and Augustine on the City of God, book. 20, ch. 7. In the interpretations on the book. Ecclesiastes, ch. afterbirth. Probably Cicero in a book about old age. This letter, as well as the two following it (116 and 117), were written by the blessed one. Jerome at an unknown time, which is why they are placed in the conclusion of everyone. In one of the lists the passage reads: they bless in the presence of elders (coram presbyteris). Mistress - domina - is obviously the name given to the head of the women's community in the monastery. Gemina (hemina) is almost the smallest measure of capacity, equal to half a sextarium: in order to touch Jerome, Sabian, exhausted, pale, without blood in his face, drew his attention to the small amount of life remaining in himself. There is no such place in the book of Genesis. Probably bl. Jerome wanted to briefly express with this the meaning of God's entire speech to Cain. You might be interested in: